Totally Spies: Operation Final Fantasy 7T Part 1
by TEKNAM
Summary: When women worldwide are being kidnapped, robbed, and raped, it's the spies' duty to find out why. Little do they know that their journey will lead them to the realm of Midgar! Part 1 is set in post AC FF7 world. Plus, there are bonus surprise characters!
1. Trouble At Work: Running, Not Hiding!

This story takes place right after FF7:Advent Children. As a bit of background, this idea came to me quite randomly. Anyway, I do not own any of these characters. They belong to Square Enix, Jetix, and Marathon studios, respectively. Enjoy

Totally Spies: Operation Sephiroth

Prologue (Chapter 1): "What Do We Do With Her?"

It was a quite, peaceful evening in on Georgetown Street in LA. The flowers were blooming, even though winter had just turned tail and ran back to Antarctica. However, in the peaceful spring twilight a frenzied clicking noise broke the tranquil silence. Suddenly, with the clicking sound growing louder by the second, a figure broke the horizon. As the figure became visible, a corporate-type woman came hurtling down the road, looking like the hounds of hell were on her heels. As she ran, left arm swinging and purse close to falling from her almost masculinely broad shoulder, she continually told herself that she only had five minutes before the custodian would exit her building, lock the front doors, go home, and, inadvertently get her fired for not handing her assignment in on time. '_What kind of idiot are you, anyway,_' the voice in her head asked, '_if John hadn't come early, you wouldn't have left your assignment on the desk!'_

Over and over she fought the losing battle, and over and over again she would tell herself that she would actually make it. As she approached the building, she saw no sign of the custodian, and she was quickly running short on time. _'Three, two, one. I am officially out of time. I need to get in shape. Once I've been fired, that is.'_ However, as she turned to go home, the building emitted a very high-pitched scream that, for some un-known reason, sparked the woman's interest. She had to help who ever was in trouble... but she couldn't, not with the door locked. _'Still,'_ she told herself,_'you've got to try!'_ Running to the building drained whatever energy was left in her body, but she was willing to give her all to help. Arriving at the door, she found it unlocked, and stepped inside. _'That's strange,'_ she though, _'the custodian should have locked up before now. What is going on?'_

As she approached the secretary's desk she said, "Hey, Theresa, can you push the elevator button on the control panel, please? Running back here really took it out of me." Walking past, She notice something: a slightly raised portion of skin on Theresa's forehead. But, tired and frustrated as she was, she ignored it. She walked to the elevator and waited for a minute. Then another two passed. Then another three crept by. "Theresa, why didn't you press the button," she asked. Then, remembering the bump she had seen, she walked back over and said, "Here, Theresa. Let me look at that bu...", she cut short at the sight of Theresa's head, and screamed. The secretary had a line of four indentations that seemed to penetrate straight through to the brain, all aligned vertically. Still, in shock, she made the decision to retrieve her assignment.

She opened the stairwell and pulled out her cell phone while ascending the stairs. She dialed 911 and informed the police; soon after, she arrived at the landing of the third floor. Opening the door, she looked to see if anyone was coming. After making sure the coast was clear, she slowly walked down the hall, but paused when she heard voices coming from behind a set of doors labeled 'Room 327-S: Conference Room". Putting her ear to the door, she heard female voices conversing. "Well, well. This one looks like she's got lots of coin. What do we do with her," asked an intuitive voice. "Hmm. I don't know Tifa. Why don't we consult our specialist? YUFFIE," called a second, more controlling voice. "Yeah, yeah, I'm still over here Aeris," said a frustrated youthful voice, "No need to call me, I'm not your pet basset hound, you know." "Yuffie, I know that. It's just that ever since Cloud gave us the pink slip, I just...Just...," Aeris broke off and gave a deep, sorrowful sigh," I can't forget the hatred I felt emitting from his being. I just hope to Shiva that he didn't go and destroy Midgar with Sephiroth."

Thinking that she had heard enough, the woman slowly and quietly left the door and made her way to her office. Opening the door, she located her quarry easily: the small tan folder sitting on her desk. But, the second she picked it up, there was a noise outside the door. Fearing her life, she darted behind the desk and opened the handy compartment door. Throwing it open, she crawled inside and closed the door, and just in time for her office door to be blown open. Footsteps were heard, slow and careful, approaching the desk. As the figure leaned on the desk, the woman tried to remain quiet, while trying t alleviate the pain in her back. "_If I manage to make it out of this_," she thought, "_I am going to need heavy chiropractic therapy!_" The desk creaked as the figure left, moving toward the door. The door closed quickly, indicating that the coast was clear. As she opened the door, she checked back and forth. She slowly inched out of the compartment, and looked across the floor again. Still there was nothing. Happy that she was finally able to get home, she stood up, folder in hand. "Well, my idea worked! There was someone in here, after all," Said Yuffie, startling the woman, who spun right round with horrified look on her face. As she surveyed the small amount of armour on the girl's right shoulder, the green T-shirt, tan shorts, headband and large vicious-looking shuriken, she wondered how such a nice young girl could have gotten involved with murderers. "Look, I don't want any trouble, ok? I just came back here to get my assignment. It's due tomorrow, and if I don't submit it before deadline I'm going to get fired," she explained.

Yuffie just looked over at the woman's name tag, and said, "Well, miss Tamara Jones, Me and my associates would like to have a word with you. And maybe steal something from you, as well." Yuffie grabbed Tamara by the collar and dragged her back to the conference room. "Hey girls, look who i found trying to sneak out of the place," Yuffie said to the others. "Oh good, you found another one, Yuffie! I knew there was a reason for bringing you along," a petite, modestly dressed teen said. The tallest, obviously Tifa the leader, was dressed like a bar waitress, and said, "Good, work. I'll take this one, you two take the other." Tamara could tell from Tifa's words alone that she meant bad business. She screamed as Tifa closed in...

**Hope people actually read this. R&R, please! Flames are accepted.**


	2. A New Promoition: NO! ANOTHER MISSION!

**Chapter 2:**

**A New Rank For The Alpha Spies**

It was a quiet twilit night in Beverly Hills. Behind on beautiful vista, an equally beautiful young woman was hurriedly attempting to finish her history paper. She was obviously the smartest girl in her class, considering most of the questions she was answering were grades ahead of her own. Futilely trying to keep her towel wrapped around her hair, she finally decided to take it off, only to be scolded soon after by a slightly annoyed female voice: "Sammy! Come back in here! You'll catch pneumonia if you're not careful!" Irrate, Sam picked up her books and began to make her way inside. As she placed her books on the kitchen table, she turned to the source of the voice, a brown-skinned, black haired girl. "Alex, what has happened to you lately?", she began, "You're becoming way too protective of Clover and I. Ever since that mi-?" She was cut short by the appearance of a tall, blonde girl, obviously the hottest girl in school. "Ahem! Sammy, if Alex is trying to keep you from getting sick, the least you could do is try to be nice and thank her." Then, in a whisper, she added, "remember, we agreed not to bring up the isson-may, right? Alex hasn't been right since that day." "Yeah, you're right Clover. It was bad enough when she had to go to that horrible shrink-lady and try to get rid of that memory. I shouldn't bring it back up, or we may have to relive that experience literally", Sam said, eyes turned down in shame at what she had almost done. Clover strode over to the table where Alex had now sat down, reading Sam's history paper. The second Clover sat down, though, the entire world seemed to turn upside-down, and the girls began screaming as they slid down the familiar metal tunnel. In a matter of seconds, they landed face first on a plush couch. Ahead of them, at a high-tech computer desk, sat a very distinguished man.

"Gerry! Why did you have to woohp us right now?! We were about to have a... um, a very girly chat", Clover shouted. Gerry stood up, and walked towards the girls in a very angry fashion. The girls had never in all their days of working for Gerry seen him this mad. "Girls," he said strictly, "I would like to say something to you about you're jobs." Horrified, they sat up and gulped- all at once. Gerry walked in front of the three and, going from angry to elated in a spit second, exclaimed, " CONGRATULATIONS, GIRLS!" Puzzled, the girls sat there wondering if Gerry was suffering some sort of disorder. Gerry looked at the girls and said, "You have once again been PROMOTED! Your new rank is Master Spy. There are many levels of Master Spy though. You are currently at the Alpha level. Not many operatives reach this level, and even so, those that do usually go mad from the enormous work load. From this point onward, your missions will more difficult, as well as more in number, so expect many transports. Also, you may be forced in this class of spying to kill your targets-" Gerry cut short, noticing the looks of terror on the girls faces, then continued, "- depending on their danger level. But, fear not. This will not be a regular thing. Now, as it happens, I also have your first Alpha level mission ready.-" Gerry quickly switched on the holographic screen and displayed the case, "- This is the highest level of corporate building in LA; The Grand Line Tele-Firm Incorporated building. Last night, EMD's arrived to find the place in ruins. They checked the building and found a total of sixteen people dead, while three others were injured. This was only the ground floor." At this the girls' jaws almost dropped off. Gerry went on, "They went to the third floor, only to find twice the chaos. They went to every room, and found a total of twenty-five people on the floor. Now, the strange thing about this is that half of the victims were killed or injured by a set of four small conical puncture wounds, all of which let small traces of titanium-enforced steel alloys. Half of the remaining casualties suffered from... oh dear, how do I put this?... A severed body." "WHAT!?", the girls shouted, as pictures of the victims appeared. It was true: it seemed that they had all been cut clean in half, and not by a series of attacks. Gerry continued, "The remaining casualties seem to due to having been impaled with ahem a _butter-fly shaped_ rod. Only one victim, a woman, was capable of telling us what happened through the shock. She said that three young women had attacked her, robbed her, then went ahead and raped her. She also said that they had been talking about a cloud that walks, and some person called Sephiroth. From the scene, we also picked up a small black box that appears to be a portal device. Your job is to travel into the portal and find these three girls." Gerry activated a second hologram that portrayed three young girls. 'Wow, that one on the right has some serious fashion! Gotta ask her where she got that skirt,' Clover thought, as Gerry went on, "Now, every time we send someone in there, they come back seconds later in primitive armour and looking as if they had almost been torn into pieces. The only thing you will be bringing is your X-Powders. They are the only things that retain any power charge; unfortunately we will not be able to communicate. Now, If you will take these,...", Gerry paused and handed the girls a small chip each, then continued, "put these into the small open part of your X-Powders' mainframe., Then, hold your hand out in front of you while holding the X-Powder, and say, 'Battle System Engage'." The girls did as instructed, then warily spoke the words, "Battle System Engage". They were not prepared for what came next.

Hope you like the cliff-hanger! Will be back next week with next chapter!


	3. Portal to Nowhere: Onward to Midgar!

To all my readers, I just want to take this opportunity to say... THANK YOU! This is the only place where I feel that I belong. Everywhere else is nothing but insults and evils treatment. So, thank you all again. Now, on with chapter 3! I promise that I will not fail.

**Chapter 3: The Black Portal**

The girls immediately discovered that the new addition for their X-Powders had upgraded their armour and given them a small selection of weapons. Gerry, feeling the room to be getting too quiet, broke the awed silence. "Well, what do you think? It's a brand new prototype that was just developed two days ago. Your headgear allows you to see in four different vision types: thermal, ultraviolet, infrared, and night vision. You are also equipped with a special feature that allows you to enhance anything you touch with technological elements, creating something that you would see in those... Matrix movies, I recall-", Gerry stopped as Clover asked, Ger, why are you equipping us this much, if the only thing that will work is the X-Powder?" "The suits run from the power in your X-Powders, don't they?", Gerry simply asked in reply. Clover, completely beaten, silenced herself as Sam said, "Gerry, you haven't given us anything to work with here, except for new gadgets. What is the situation here? Who are we going after?"

Gerry snapped back from his reverie and, embarrassed, continued: "Oh, so sorry. Our survivor, Tamara Jones, tells us that the targets names are as follows, and in order of indication:-" Gerry turned on the holographic projector and began with the first, more modestly dressed of the three perpetrators, "-Aeris. Apparently some sort of flower girl, She is the one who caused the greater majority of the casualties. She carries with her a rather long rod, with a _butterfly-shaped head_. She is quite dangerous, but not as much so as this next one. This-", Gerry said as he changed the holo-slide, "- is Yuffie. She is apparently trained in the art of Nin-jitsu and is the stealthiest person anywhere. She carries a giant shuriken of some sort...-" "So it was _HER_ that sliced all those people in half! She used the shuriken to kill them", Sam interrupted. Gerry, unfaltering, continued, "... Yes Sam, that is correct. Now, for the most dangerous of the three: _This_,-" Gerry hanged over to the final slide and resumed, "- is Tifa, pronounced with the 'I' spoken as 'E' in the word 'see'. She is the one who delivered the final killing blow to that secretary; it is her that wears the spiked gloves necessary for such a thing. Also, in the interrogation, Ms. Jones also said something about someone or something called 'Cloud' kicking the three of them out of his group. Ms. Jones also reported that the targets referred to another person by the name of 'Sephiroth'. In addition, In the past month alone, thee have been dozens of reports fitting ths case perfectly in nature, although not in location. It would seem that these three girls are lesbians." Taking full pleasure from the shocked faces of the spies, Gerry continued: " We initially thought that we would allow the police to handle this case, but when this incidence came upon us, WOOHP had to intervene. All you will take with you are your X-Powders. Now, If you will follow me..." Gerry led the way down a slow-moving conveyor belt. Clover softly whispered to Sam and Alex, "Gerry obviously forgot to mention that mission briefings would be much longer as well." The three snickered at this, until Gerry spoke again, "This is where you will be transported to the land that your targets escaped to. You will be forced to fend for yourselves, for the second you arrive there, we will be unable to contact you. We will attach small devices to you that will allow us to pull you from this place the instant your vital signs become weakened. Now, if you would, ..." Gerry motioned to a small three-person platform to which the small black box that Gerry had earlier mentioned. As they stepped onto the pad, Gerry said to them, These are your objectives: #1, detain the three female targets. #2, Find and return with this 'Cloud', so that we may study him... er, it.. Er, whatever it is. #3, Defeat this Sephiroth, as Ms. Jones mentioned he was trying to destroy the world you will soon enter. Complete thesde objectives to the best of your abilities." As the machine turned on and the portal opened beneath their feet, the spies distinctly heard Gerry call to them, "AND COME BACK SAFELY!" This helped to raise their spirits, if only a little bit as they began plummeting into a dark tube. It felt like being woohp-ed, except it was taking a toll on the girls physically. As they continued to fall, eyes closed tight and screaming, down the tube, they took no notice of the changes occurring on their outfits. As the end of the tunnel opened, they landed, hard, on their arms and knees. This did not last long, however, as they quickly collapsed from fatigue. As Clover finally succumbed to the stress on her body, she could swear that she could faintly see three silhouettes coming over the horizon. To exhausted to comprehend this, Clover finally collapsed, her eyes closed, and sleep set in. Meanwhile, the three silhouettes moved toward the sleeping girls, bound them and carried them into the distance.

I hope you all like this chapter. R& R; flames are always welcome, as I would like to get much better at this.


	4. Out of the Coffin: Vince! SHow Yourself!

**Chapter 4: Coffins and Wyverns**

Clover awoke feeling refreshed. 'Now to get up from this chair,' she thought, then, 'Wait. The last thing I remember was collapsing on the ground. How did I?...' As she started to struggle with her bonds, she noticed that she was tied quite strangely. But soon, she heard a familiar voice: "Clover, if that's you, don't bother moving. Something is making these bonds get tighter every time we move." Clover quickly felt what Sam was saying; the ropes tying her were getting tighter every second that she fought. She sat perfectly still, only to find that the ropes weren't loosening. 'Well ,' she thought, 'That could have worked a little better.' "We're all in this together Clover," Sam said, "We're all in the same bind." "Yeah, tied awkwardly to chairs. I know. I get it," Clover snapped. "Thank you very much, Clover," Sam retorted, "You saved my the trouble of having to state the obvious." A small groan brought both from their confrontation, followed by a small voice: "Ohh, man. What a nice nap." "ALEX?! Is that you," both girls asked at once. Alex, now fully awake, asked, "Um, girls? Where are we exactly?" Sam, now slightly afraid, surveyed her surroundings and answered, "Well, it looks like we are inside the wine cellar of a really big house! And the place seems to be full of not wine casks but-" Sam was cut short by Clover's shriek of "COFFINS?!" All three girls began screaming; this only intensified when they noticed a single coffin in between them started to rattle from within. Soon, the rattling intensified, and a tall man in a long red cloak and gold gloves blew out of the coffin, and with an angry air, began rambling. "Cloud, I thought we were crystal clear on this. When I need to come back here to recharge, I DO NOT... what on earth?"

As the man opened his eyes, he only expected to see bare walls; he did not expect to see a small, black-haired girl sitting hog-tied to a chair in front of him. Caught completely off guard, he quickly whipped around and caught sight of Sam and Clover. He then lowered himself to the ground and said calmly, "Well, this is interesting. I don't usually have guests, and almost never have guests that are-" "Stunningly gorgeous females?", Clover broke in, "Sorry, but the role of Captain Obvious has already been taken, Mr...?" The stranger finished his previous sentence: "Actually, I was just going to say girls. But, your version would do better justice to your extravagant figures." The sophistication in the man's words caused the girls to collapse in their chairs. "Also, to answer your question, the name is Valentine. Vincent Valentine." Walking over and arranging the chairs quickly, he continued: "So, let's see. We have here a... Blond shopaholic bimbo, ... a red-headed brainiac, and ... a black-haired near-olympic athlete. Correct?" Amazed at the accurateness of his guess, Sam and Alex simply stood there in awe; "Excuse ME?! I am not a bimbo!", Clover exploded. "I'm sorry, but you struck me as the type," Vince calmly responded. "OH YEAH?! I'LL STRIKE YOU ALL RIGHT!!", Clover erupted furiously; she then began to attack Vince fiercely while Sam and Alex tried to restrain her. As Vince stood there smirking, he could have sworn he heard something, not twenty feet away. His ears cocked and waiting, he caught the sound gain... and again... and again! What ever it was, it was getting closer. As Clover settled down, he quickly whipped around and said, "Hurry! Look in this room, and find a weapon for each of you. Don't ask why, just hurry!"

Racing around the room, the girls scrambled to do as they were told. Sam, Thinking like a spy, checked the wall nearest her for a secret button, but instead opted for a large ornate knight shield. Once it was firmly attached to her arm, several blades extended precariously from it: one from each corner, and two from the sides extending down in a diagonal fashion. Alex followed Sam's example, and found a small hole in the wall containing a very old-fashioned samurai katana. Attaching the sheath to her uniform by the belt strap, she withdrew the blade from it's sheath and held it in front of herself, in one hand. Clover, on the other hand, simply decided that she would fight bare-handed; Vince, in turn, gave her a pair of vicious-looking gauntlets to wear, saying, "Come on now, we can't have you breaking a nail, can we?" Still slightly miffed, She put the metal gloves on, and put up her fists in a boxing stance. As vince turned to face the doorway, he told them, "Prepare yourselves, girls, for your first encounter..." Clover attempted to finish his sentence with, "Of the alien kind? We kinda got the idea, Vince" Vince finished his own sentence: "No, of the extremely furry, snarling, ravenous, sharp-fanged monster kind." This caused all three of the girls to momentarily crash to the ground; that's when they heard it: the sound of gale-force winds descending down the staircase in front of them. As the sound continued from the staircase, A pack of winged monsters Blew down the stairs, and at that point, the world spun out of control. As the world resumed normality, a battle awaited the girls... Their first battle in Midgar.

Hope ya enjoyed this, there will be another chapter in a couple of days, if not less.


	5. The weapons of Magic: Double the Power!

**Chapter 5: Equal Power For Equal Work  
**

The girls stood beside Vince, ready to fight. However, it was not the form of a gang attack; instead, the monsters took turns attacking. Five of them attacked Vince, unknowingly making him stronger. Then, as his power built up over his limit, he released the red energy and transformed... into a purple beast with a long tail and two long, straight horns on it's head. He then took his own attack cycle, rushing forward and beating one of the main wyverns senseless. Calling to the girls in a growl, he told them, "Listen, if I die fighting, go into my bag and find a large, shiny feather and hold it above me. It will revive me." The sixth monster moved in and attacked Clover, instantly giving her the same power Vince had received. Noticing ths, Vince told her to charge her power and release it. Clover followed the instruction, and quickly released the red aura and called "Big Bang Crush!", then ran forward and released a lightning-quick barrage of fist attacks that instantly critically damaged the monster. Vince looked over to Clover, only to see more of the red aura trailing off of her. 'But how?', Vince thought, 'How does she have _this_ much power?!' "Blondey, release your energy again!", Vince called. Clover wasted no time, having sensed the excess before. Quickly repeating the previous process, she took off into the atmosphere with a scream of "Comet Cruise!", and brought down a single punch with the power of a meteor on the same creature, killing it. The next creature sent a flying sickle at Sam, damaging her slightly. She too received the same power that Clover had, and, not wasting any time, quickly released her power with a cry of "Seeryu Death Tunnel!", instantly annihilating the nearest monster. She sensed her excess, and before Vince could tell her, charged her power and released again, calling "Keeryu Life Stream!";suddenly, a steady current of enchanted water came down on all four, healing them all.The next creature attacked Alex, and gave her the same power that her friends had received. Releasing her energy, she cried "Slash-Wave Tunnel!", causing a number of wind enhanced blades to rush at the wyvern, killing it. She quickly epeated the process, calling "French Chef Press!", Rushing foward and turning the next monster into thin slices. Vince followed suit and attacked with a blinding flare of massive explosions that decimated another creature. Then, from nowhere, he saw a second flash of blinding light; realizing that it was coming from his left side, looked that way to see the girls ascending into the air. With Sam's shield, Clovers hands, and Alex's sword in the air, a giant ray of light shot into the starlit sky above, transforming as it went into a large moon. The moon then turned backwards and came crashing down on the last of th wyverns, killing both. With the battle complete, the world once again contorted and returned to normal. Sam, Clover and Alex descended to the ground, the look of astonishment and awe on Vince's face awaiting them. "Come on! Let's not waste anytime; there may be more up there waiting for us. Let's move!", Vince commanded; the girls lost no time in obeying. As they began to run, the blades on Sam's shield retracted, Alex's sword created a sheath and latched itself to her back, and Clover's gauntlets fused into her hands and wrists. As Vince led the way, the girls came to a three-way silent conclusion: fighting in this world was more fun than doing so in their world. Vince thought silently to himself, 'Well, this could actually get interesting. I'll guide them for a little while at most. When they become strong enough to fight on their own, I will leave them and come back here.' As they wore off the last of the adrenaline that had pumped though their bodies throughout the battle, they silently hoped that there would be another soon.


	6. Ascend the Stairs: HURRY! FIRE!

Hey Peeps! Sorry for the long wait, but it's over now! Here is the completed Chapter 6. Hope you enjoy!

Chapter 6: - If You Can't Stand the Heat, Get Off The Stairs!

Halfway up, Vince suddenly stopped and let the girls out of his cloak, then promptly collapsed to the ground. Sam knelt beside him and asked what was wrong, to which he replied: "it's the result of me not fully recharging in my coffin. If my energy is not at full capacity, I can barely go anywhere. At this point, I need … my Mako juice." Seeing the look of confusion on Sam's face, Vince said, "It's the green bottle with a swan-shaped spout." Sam then removed the bag on Vince's back, and rummaged around. 'only one problem, though', she thought to herself, 'THEY ARE ALL GREEN, AND THEY ALL HAVE SWAN SPOUTS!' seeing that Sam was having trouble, he told her, "it's the smallest, roundest, fattest bottle." Finding the right bottle, Sam quickly uncorked it, and tipped the eerily green hued liquid into Vince's mouth. With but a swallow, Vince's body was pulled into the air by an invisible force. After he quickly flashed the same colour as the liquid, He landed on the ground, on his feet, and cracked his knuckles. "Much better," he said. Sam looked at him, dismayed, and said, "Vince, shouldn't you rest?" "No, I'm alright," Vince said, "In place of my coffin and a few months of rest, m6y body takes the Mako juice acts as a catalyst for the restoration of my energy. Now, let's go, before more of them come!" he said, leading them up the stairs. They only made it ten running steps up the stairs before another creature attacked, wielding a small dagger and a lantern. The world plunged into twisted darkness, returned to normal, and the battle began. "Look out, girls! That thing is a Tonberry; if its dagger makes contact with you, will automatically die!" The girls temporarily held an expression of shock, then returned to their battle. Sam's shield extended the blades, Alex's katana flew from its sheath into her hands, and Clover's gloves appeared on her hands. The Tonberry took two steps forward, only to be blasted by a round of stop magic from Vince. The girls rushed forward and rapidly attacked the small creature, each doing their own low level of damage, followed in turn by Vince dealing it a massive blow. When it started moving again, the cycle repeated: Stop, attack, repeat. The third time the creature attempted to move, Vince glowed red, then released an attack the girls hadn't seen yet. The Tonberry was slowed to a stop, while all four of its opponents were accelerated to double speed, and protected from all attacks. Vince and the girls got in four attacks each before it started moving. As it got closer, Vince noticed three green-hued glows coming from his sides. Looking from one girl to the next, he noticed that all three wee casting magic; '_But wait,_' he thought, '_How can they be casting magic if I never gave them any materia?! They are going to backfire!_' "No, girls, stop!" Vince Shouted loudly, as the three began rising in the air; "If you continue to cast, you will inevitably back-" Vince broke off, witnessing the strangest thing ever. The three girls were casting magic all at once, and succeeding! As the three attacks released, three different kinds of elemental magic shot into the sky, transformed into a dragon, and came crashing down on the poor Tonberry, dealing it the deciding blow. When the world returned to normal, Vince asked them, "How did you do that? The way it works is you are supposed to have these small orbs called materia in order to cast magic, otherwise, you'll backfire and damage yourselves." "Oh, you mean these?" Alex asked, producing from small holes in her katana four small orbs, each of them green. Sam and Clover did likewise, much to Vince's amazement. "Where did you get those? I never gave them to you," Vince inquired. Sam simply said, "They were already inside our weapons, I guess." Vince simply shook his head, and again motioned for the girls to step into his cloak. Flying farther up the stairs, Vince stopped when they had reached the ¾ mark, and let the girls off. He then said, "Wait here, there's something not quite right here." He then proceeded to take off, flying down the stairs. The girls stood there for five minutes waiting for him to return, but he did not. Alex went to the railing, closed her eyes and lowered her head to look down the staircase. When she did, she saw Vince fly back up and keep going, while yelling, "QUICK! GET OUT OF HERE! THE STAIRS ARE-" "-ON FIRE?!" Sam shouted, stepping away from the centre of the stairs, when sure enough, seconds later, a large flame appeared. As the girls began running up the now seemingly endless staircase, more monsters came from ahead and attacked them. One by one, each was attacked, filling up their limit skills for use. "Hey, I have an idea. Let's try using our limits together! on the count of three," Sam said, looking from one to the other, getting head nods from each, "Three…," Clover entered her prep stage; "Two," Alex dropped to her pre-attack stance; "ONE", Sam followed suit, holding her shield in front of herself, finally shouting "NOW!" Vince, upon hearing this, remembered that he had left the girl behind, and, worried that they would be burned alive; he flew back down, taking a swig from the bottle every now and again. Approaching their level, Vince was blinded by no one, not two, no, not even three, but six flashes of red light. 'What?' he asked himself, 'how are they all sending off their limits at once? It's not possible…' As he approached the rear of the battle field, he was once again blinded by a flash of not red, but ORANGE light! "The powers of life that never die, of comets and meteors in the sky, of the winds that carry many lies, Aid our vengeance. MAKE THEM FLY! GATES OF HELL!" all three called together. Then, as Clover held her arms out, Alex plunged the blade into the ground and Sam rapidly span her shield in front of her, a giant two-door gate appeared from the earth, crafted of marble stone. In the middle of each door was a skeletal figure, each holding the doors closed with chains. The gate slowly opened, and an intense wind tunnel began to suck the monsters into the gate. When the last one was sucked inside, the gate slammed shut, and instantly began to crack from the middle outward, till it suddenly shattered and disappeared. After the world resumed normality, Vince motioned for the girls to get back in his cloak, and flew with them to the top of the staircase, deep in thought. When they reached the top, Vince flew straight through the open front door, and landed on the ground, releasing the girls. Behind them, a long, dramatic groan came from the house, as it suddenly burst into flames, and promptly fell to ashes, dead. Vince quickly flew back down, looking for his coffin, but did not find it. Coming back up, He landed and said, "Well, there goes my chances of coming back to rest in my coffin. Oh well, I guess I should go and inform Cloud. You girls want to come along and keep me company?" "Sure, as long as you don't start getting any ideas, Vince. Also, who or what is this Cloud, anyway? I heard you talking about him back in the mansion, and was wondering,", Clover said, prompting Vince to spin on the spot and say, with a sinister look on his face, "Why? Are you Shin-Ra spies, or Sephiroth clones in disguise?" He was now torn between nervousness, and self-rage, but did not have to be, because seconds later, Sam and Alex returned his query with their own: "What is Shin-Ra? And who is Sephiroth?" Pleased with the answer, Vince returned to his calm demeanour. "I guess since you did so well back there, I can tell you all the details as we go." And with that, as they started their travels, Vince began the long explanation.

Sorry for the long wait, guys! But, finally, you are going to get the goods you've been craving! I'm aiming for two chapters in one day!


	7. Info Gathered: Let's meet the Gang!

Well, guys, sorry to keep ya waiting, but what with being busy all summer, and hitting major writer's block, I'm lucky I managed to get this done. Anyway, hope you enjoy!

**Chapter 7: Vampire's Knowledge**

"Well, Girls," Vince began, "Shin-Ra is an evil corporation that is sucking all of the planet's energy from its core; It is using that energy for power in Midgar, it's Home of operations, and some of the surrounding areas. Its current president, Rufus Shin-Ra, is a tyrannical man who rules uses fear, not money lie his father, to rule Midgar and all of the other areas; As well, he not only took the humongous cannon from one of his port towns and turned Midgar into a weapon that he used to destroy Diamond Weapon-" Clover interrupted with, "Oh! Where can I get some diamonds?" Vince replied, "-Diamond Weapon is a giant creature created by the planet to deal with planetary threats." Clover's mood sank, and Vince continued. "Not only did he turn Midgar into a giant weapon city, he's heading up The Turks, a elite fighting squad that are responsible for bringing AVALANCHE, a pseudo-terrorist group that has been trying to kill off Shin-Ra's Mako Energy Reactors, and succeeded in killing their #1 reactor, but not their #5 and #8 reactors. In retaliation, Shin-Ra dropped the Sector 7 plate onto the slums below in an attempt to silence them. I am a member of NEO AVALANCHE, along with my friends." Alex, feeling curious, asked, "So, who are these friends?" Vince, now feeling perfectly at ease, proceeded with the rest of the story. "Ah, you didn't let me finish. First off, There is Cloud Strife, the spiky-headed blonde leader of NEO AVALANCHE who always manages to pull a rabbit out of a hat. He fights his battles with a barbaric-style broadsword, and used to be a mercenary/Ex-SOLDIER. Then we have the original leader of AVALANCHE, Barret Wallace, a burly, black-skinned man with an accent, an attitude, and a nasty way of filling an enemy's body with round upon round of ammo from his automatic gun-arm. Tifa Lockheart, the hostess of Tifa's Seventh Heaven Bar from the slums of Sector Seven, is a tall, busty vixen that isn't afraid to smash heads using her metal plated gloves. Aeris Gainsborough, Sector Seven's own Flower Girl, is… well, was a petite little number with a love of beautiful things and a wish to see her enemies pounded by her staff.-" "Wait," Sam interrupted, "What do you mean, was?" "Well," Vince replied, she ran off without us to the Forgotten Capital, and ended up letting her back meet the business end of Sephiroth's sword. She was impaled with it through and through. Cloud was so peeved that he almost killed Sephiroth on the spot, but Sephiroth got away. Yuffie-" Interrupting once more, Sam asked, "Wait, who is Sephiroth?" Vince, now getting slightly agitated, said, "Sephiroth is the product of Jenova cells and Mako energy being combined with human sperm and egg cells. And, before you ask," he stopped, seeing Sam was going to ask that next, "Jenova is an ancient, or native, if you will, being who was found 2000 years ago in a geological stratum. She was brought to Shin-Ra for experimentation, and was the subject of many tests. Now, can I get back on subject? Yuffie Kisaragi is a teenage materia-thieving ninja who prefers shuriken-type weapons and projectiles to close range blades. Then there is Cid Highwind, the foul-mouthed middle-aged pilot who brawls with spears and lances. He is the pilot of our airship, the aptly-named Highwind. Cait Sith, a small black cat on a manipulated toy mog, is our spy into the Shin-Ra's activities, for his partner, Reeves, works in the Public Development department; he fights by shouting orders through a megaphone to the mog. Red XIII is a red, fire-tailed cat, is our philosopher, and fights with headdresses. His grandfather, Bugenhagen, lives in Cosmo Canyon. And, finally, there is me, Vincent Valentine, the genetically modified ex-Turks who was sealed away in a coffin for many years under the belief that he had sinned. Ha ha ha… I'd almost forgotten that… sigh," Vince finished, stopping abruptly to say, "Wait. This is unlike me. I forgot that I have my PHS!" He pulled out a small cell phone just as it rang with a catchy ring tone; flipping it open, he said, "This is Vince, what's going on, Cloud?" HE listened intently for several minutes, and then said, "Well, I'm actually coming back for good, this time. The mansion burned down. Yeah, I know it sounds unbelievable, but you'll be happy to here this. I've found replacements for our ex-females compatriots. I'll set the PHS to Speakerphone so you can talk with them." Vince held the phone in his palm, and pressed a button. A small window appeared, creating a full-coloured holographic image of a youth with spiked armour on his shoulder, a large sword on his back, and spiky yellow hair. Judging by the look on his face, the girls thought he looked like a war veteran; he had a pleased, peaceful look on his face, however. "So, these are them, huh, Vince?" the youth said, looking from one girl to the next and then back to Vince. "Yeah, Cloud. That's them. Why don't you introduce yourselves, girls," Vince suggested, nodding that yes, it was safe. They stepped closer to the small phone, and Sam began the intros with: "Hello, Cloud. I'm Sam, and this is Alex," she said pointing to Alex, and then pointing at Clover, she continued, "And this is Clover. Could you tell us how you came by this amazing technology? And, you don't worry; Vince already told us everything, We aren't Shin-Ra spies." Cloud looked to Vince, who nodded in confirmation. "Well," Cloud said, "our genius inventor, Cid, developed this tech from a small black box-shaped object he found in the carcass of Diamond Weapon. Amazed at how they were able to fire plasmatic particle beams from their bodies, he took a break one day and sped off to the rotting body of the fallen Weapon. Hey, I can introduce you to the other members of the team! GUYS, COME HERE!" A rushing sound filled their ears as four individuals rushed to Cloud, who told them, "Switch into group-call mode on your PHSs, everyone. You have new team members to meet!" Soon, the image on Vince's phone split five-ways, and four new people were shown: one big and burly with a crew cut, black skin, and a gun for an arm; one with a rather wild head of hair, sporting a cigarette and holding a spear in his hands; a red-furred, fire-tailed cat with a headdress and a scar on one eye; a small black cat atop a grotesque-looking white creature. "Girls," Cloud said, "Allow me to introduce to you to the rest of the gang: From the far left of me is Barret-" "Howdy! You three look cute!" Barret broke in, only to be quieted by Cloud, "-, who must behave himself or he will be getting no ammo money this month." "NOOOOOO," Barret broke in, "I need my ammo! You take away my ammo money, and I won't last two seconds in a battle!" "Hmm, we'll have to test that sometime. Don't forget, you don't necessarily need ammo-type weapons. You still have your Cannon Ball and Atomic Scissors, right," Cloud asked him, getting slightly interested. ". . . Oh yeh! Heh heh heh, let's see how those Nibel wolves like bein' chopped in half!" Barret disappeared from the image and did not come back. Cloud continued, "Ok, next on my left is Red XIII." "Hello," Red XIII responded, "How are you? I have asked Cloud several times to call me by my true name, Nanaki. But he seems to really like making me mad." Red XIII also left the screen, and soon Cloud's phone had an extra voice: "Sorry. I forgot that I have no thumbs. Drat." Clover giggled, while Alex snickered. Sam just stood there and rolled her eyes with naught but a smile. To my immediate right you'll see Cait Sith, our Shin-Ra Intel gatherer." "Hello there! Right pleased to meet ya'll! If ya couldn't tell, I'm styled after a redneck!" He too vanished from sight, but, like Barret, did not return. Cloud returned and asked, "Red, could you leave for a minute?" "All right, fearless leader," Red replied, his voice totally leaving the phone. Cloud finished, "OK, and finally, the only one left to introduce you to is our genius inventor, Cid!" "Well, I'm not really that smart- Ya really think, spiky? Ya really think so, Cloud," Cid asked, now paying full attention to Cloud. "Yeah, Cid, Of course," Cloud answered, "Now, could you explain to these ladies how exactly you managed to put these holo-image projectors in the PHS systems?" "It would be an absolute pleasure. I-" Cid was suddenly cut off when three other images appeared on the screen… but they weren't anyone the girls had ever seen before! "Oh crap. Tifa, Aeris, Yuffie, I thought I told you never to call this frequency again! I knew I should have taken your phones!" The girls were confused, but Cloud, seeing this, cleared things up for the girls: "Girls, these three are Tifa Lockheart, Aeris Gainsborough, and Yuffie Kisaragi, our strictly EX-team mates."

Thanks for all the reviews (Though certain ones were confusing…) and thanks to those of you that subscribed! You won't be sorry. I will be able to get up to chapter ten by the end of next week, but I don't know when I'll finish chapter eleven. Hope ya like the cliffhanger!


	8. Tale of Tales: The Lesbian Three

In case there were some questions about this cliff-hanger, this chapter will definitely clear things up.

_**Chapter 8: Tale of Tales: The Lesbian Three**_

Tifa, now angry, erupted, "We only called to see if you'd finally let us come back, but apparently that was a wish in the wrong direction." The girls looked at Tifa, a tall, lean woman with a long ponytail and skimpy clothing. Cloud angrily retorted, "So, what do you want, Tifa? To make Vince, Cid, and me watch the three of you do disgusting things to each other?" "For your information, Cloud Strife," Tifa said, "I don't only wear this outfit because it's so easy for me to take off; I wear it because it's the ONLY THING I HAVE LEFT TO WEAR!" Alex, now totally confused, blurted, "COULD SOMEONE EXPLAIN WHAT THE CRAP IS GOING ON HERE?!?!" Looking bewildered, Tifa looked at the girls and asked, "And who are they, Cloud? Are they replacements for us?" "They are now," Cloud replied angrily, "Because I happen to know that they aren't LESBIAN LIKE YOU!!" Sam, Clover and Alex stopped dead in their tracks, their mouths hanging down to their knees; somewhere in the distance, a DJ suddenly stopped scratching his disks. Clover broke the award silence, yelling at the top of her lungs, "WHAAAAAAAAAATT?" "That's right, you three. You heard him," Tifa said, "Aeris, Yuffie and I are lesbians, and proud of it. And just because of that, Cloud here gave us the pink slip!" "Tifa," one of the other Holographic-girls said, "If you look carefully enough, you can see a sex reference in what you just said…wink" "Yuffie, now is not the time for that, ok? I'm YELLING AT CLOUD RIGHT NOW!" Tifa screamed at the girl in a green shirt, tan shorts and heavy armour on her right arm. "Whoa, just a bit touchy. Sorry, Tifa," Yuffie quickly said before she left the transmission. The other girl, in a flowing pink dress and red top, had her brown hair done all the way to her hips in a long ponytail, and tied with a pink bow. Tifa, noticing her prolonged silence, quietly said, "Go ahead, Aeris. If you have something to say, say it. I won't bite your head off. But I might bite other things later, if you like…" Tifa ended her encouraging talk by licking her lips and winking at Aeris, who caught her hint, ad went ahead. "For your information, ladies, Tifa, Yuffie and I used to be in the party you have been employed in. For a while, all was ok, until Sephiroth managed to mess with Cloud's head. After that, I ran off to the Lost Capital, and got myself killed by Sephiroth, who was waiting there for me. I managed to find an easy way to return to this world from the Lifestream, but for several weeks, I was stuck going back to my old job of flower-peddling. For a few days, nothing out-of-the-ordinary happened, but that changed when one day this weird thug grabbed my wrist, pulled me, basket and all, into a back alley, and started taking my clothes off. I thought, 'Oh no. Please, not this, by Ifrit, not this!' but that's when I turned my head and noticed that there was no bulge in the thugs pants. They took off their pants, and that's when I discovered that the thug was a woman! She pinned me to the ground, on my back, and started doing things to me that at first I was terrified of, but soon, it started to feel natural, like this was how it was supposed to be. I didn't fight back, and instead let her do anything she wanted to me. Soon, she let me up, and dropped a card and a rose next to me. She said, "Here, and don't forget the glorious happiness of being a lesbian." For a short amount time, I sat there, my body shaking and quivering in ecstasy, wondering what to do next. The next few weeks I spent were wasted time, searching and searching for my old team, finally deciding to go to Wutai. Well, when I got there, Tifa and Yuffie were there all by themselves, and I couldn't resist showing them all I had experienced. They reacted the same way I did when it first happened to me, and quickly adjusted and settled into it. They enjoyed it like I did. We kept it up behind everyone's backs, and no one even asked me how I got back. But, it was not to last, I guess. In the end, Cloud walked in on the three of us while we were in the middle of a three-way lesbian-session, and erupted. He said nothing to us for days, and during that time, he never left his hotel room. When he finally did, he had three small slips of pink paper in his hand, and immediately gave one to each of us. Barret tried to stand up for us, but was silenced by fear of Cloud. Since then, the three of us have been living out here in the wild, fending for ourselves and occasionally falling back into our old habits." Aeris ended, and hung her head in what appeared to be shame. For several minutes, no one said anything. Clover broke the silence with, "EXCUSE ME, WHAAAAAAAAAAAAT?!" "Yeah," Sam piped up, "Why would you even consider doing that?! You need the male counterpart for reproduction! Without him, how would the human race have progressed? With only one or two women, and no sperm in between them, how would they have survived?" Alex spoke up, trying to make a point, "Um, Sammy? Not to side with them or anything, but maybe one of those women was a bisexual, you know, or a nympho, or something that somehow allowed her to have a – You know." Sam stared at Alex in disbelief for even suggesting such a thing, and Clover expressed that disbelief: "ALEX, WHAT ARE YOU, CRAZY?!?!" "What, I'm just saying," was Alex's simple response. "Anyway," Tifa said, "It's true that at first Yuffie and I were terrified of what Aeris had become, but after we experienced it once, we started to like it. Soon, we were looking for ways to do it without Cloud knowing, because you three can see how anal he is about having 'lesbians' on the team. He found out when Cait Sith walked into our tent one night and found the three of us making out." Sam shouted, "WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT?! That has to be the sickest thing ever!" "Of course," Tifa replied with a look of disappointment on her face, "Of course you'd say that. Haven't any one of you girls looked at each other and thought, 'God, she is hot!'? Hasn't that thought ever crossed your minds?" Sam turned away with a huff, as did Alex. Clover, however, stood there with a deep red blush on her face. "Um… actually… I have had that thought enter my head a couple of times," Clover said, her face getting redder and redder as she spoke. Tifa smiled, triumphant, and said, "Well, towards which of your friends were these thoughts harboured?" Clover turned a darker shade of crimson, and slowly pointed at … "ME?!" Sam shouted indignantly, staring at Clover with a horrified look on her face. "I'm sorry! It's all true! And I've had the same thought for you too, Alex!" Clover announced, causing Alex's mouth to drop open to her knees, and a terrified look swept over her face. "And you two can't possibly expect me to believe you haven't had these thoughts, right? I mean, are you three living together? If that's the case, then there's no way you can ever convince me that you've never thought one of your roomies was hot." Sam slowly turned a deep red and gained a nervous expression, her tense aura filling the air. "SO!" Tifa shouted, "I WAS RIGHT! Even the apparently super-smart red-head has had some slightly awkward thoughts run through her head! And I bet you have each had your share of more-than-erotic fantasies of being with each other in your dreams, right?!" Alex now started turning a deep shade of crimson, and raised her hand. Sam and Clover were now the ones with their mouths down to their knees and horrified expressions on their faces. "Well, there's one," Tifa said, happily, knowing she'd finally won. As Sam, Clover and Alex stood there, each blushing their own deep shades of crimson, Tifa's voice sounded for the last time before she left the transmission: "If you want to know more… Come to Wutai. You won't regret it!" As she closed her phone, Cloud began to calm down. "Sorry you had to witness that, girls. I'm usually not so nasty- um, girls?" Cloud inquired, all three now looking away and blushing deeply, thinking. "GIRLS! WAKE UP!" Cloud shouted, snapping them out of their pseudo-trance. "Oh, were you saying something, Cloud?" Sam asked, completely unaware that Cloud had said anything at all. You have to be more alert, girls. You can't just space out here. You have to keep your guard up most of the time, or the multitude of monsters will be glad to eat you in one bite. You can't let Tifa's words get to you! If you keep dwelling on it, it'll destroy you like a parasite. Just keep your mind on what's at hand. Vince," Cloud said, turning his line of sight to Vince, "Can you bring them here? I need to perform a more personal inspection." "Oh, come on, Cloud," Vince replied indignantly, "not that again. The last time you tried that, you got shoved into a teleporter device just as it activated, sucking you to that place… what was it again? Ivalice? Just ask them some questions a d let them join. There is no need to make sure they stay loyal to you by raping them." "sigh Fine. No rape test this time. But keep this in mind. If I end up finding out that they were doing the same stuff as THEY did, you'll be out of the team with them," Cloud roughly warned. "But why? Why should Vince be punished for anything we do? Not that we plan on going lesbian anytime in the near future," Clover snapped, jumping straight to Vince's aid. "SIGH FINE! You three alone will be kicked from the team, should I at anytime discover by ANY means that you have been engaging in Lesbian acts. Understood? It's only because I like looking at you that I did this, though, Clover," Cloud rephrased, now agitated. OK, I am running low on juice for this thing, I've got to go. See ya soon, Girls! And, Vince?" Cloud said, turning back to Vince before closing the connection. "Yeah?" Vince replied, wary of a possible second warning; "Tell me everything when they get here. How you found them, how good they are in battle, what kind of magic and limit breaks they ha-" "Double." was Vince's interruption. "What? What was that?" Cloud asked, his hologram was getting fuzzy. Vince quickly replied, "They have double limit breaks. They can use two limit breaks in a single full limit gauge charge! And they can combine their limit breaks, too." Cloud seemed interested in this. "CRAP! Got to go. Tell me when you get them here. Preferably in one piece would be good, Vince!" Cloud shouted as his phone died.

Well, hope you enjoy Chapter 8! Chapter nine is up now!


	9. Masamune Shows: The Sephiroth Battle

Just so everyone knows, Chapter 8 was in fat itself and this chapter combined, and it was FIVE PAGES LONG! I don't think you guys want to be scrolling through five pages of text. It took me an hour to upload it from my miniboard into the computer! hehehe…

_**Chapter 9: Masamune Shows: The Sephiroth Battle**_

Vince closed his phone, and slipped it back into its pocket. "Well, ladies," Vince said happily, "Let's go! We'd best not keep Cloud waiting, or he'll literally tear a strip out of me." The girls grimaced at this thought, and immediately fell into step behind Vince. After a few minutes, Clover looked from one companion to the next, and caught sight of Sam's X-Powder. It was threatening to fall out of her pocket. Running and catching it just before it hit the ground, Clover got an idea. "Hey, girls, we have to call Gerry and tell him what's going on! Clover opened her own X-Powder, just as Vince turned and said, "Well, I can't let you use my PHS. I don't have free minutes on it till after 8PM. I can buy you each one of your ow-n?" Vince broke off when he saw a small, monochrome holographic man appear in the small device in Clover's hand. "Ah! Good morning, girls! Good to know the X-Powders are working. So, to what do I owe the pleasure?" Gerry said, a small happy smile spreading across his face. His smile soon changed to a look of curiosity, however, as the girls began a group recap of the events that had unfurled since they arrived. "Hold on. HOLD ON, GIRLS!" Gerry shouted, silencing them after several attempts, "Now, start over, but slow so the recorder can catch what you're saying. Oh, and who is this?" he finished, catching sight of Vince, who, upon hearing the word "recorder", had sprang on the small device furiously. "No, WHO IS THIS GIRLS!?! I THOUGHT YOU SAID YOU WEREN'T SHIN-RA SPIES!" Vince shouted, now clearly angry with himself. "What is Shin-Ra?" Gerry asked, slightly calming Vince down. Vince turned to the girls and asked, "All right, if you aren't Shin-Ra spies, would you mind telling me who you really are?" Clover said, "We are Clover, Sam, and Alex, Alpha Level Master Spies for WOOHP, the World Organization of Human Protection. We obtained our titles just before being assigned to our latest mission, in three parts: 1) Find and capture Cloud, though now, we can't. 2) Find and Defeat Sephiroth, where ever and whoever he may be. And 3) Find and Arrest the three women who are responsible for killing close to the entire staff of a corporate company back in our world. We came here from a different world, possibly even another dimension altogether." Vince seemed to understand this, but in reality, it wasn't hard to see he was having trouble comprehending the information he had just become privy to. As he struggled to understand, Sam went over to help him while Alex and Clover relayed their newly obtained Intel to Gerry. When they were done, Clover turned the screen to Vince, who looked at the tiny image of an aging, balding man in a suit and tie who appeared to be in around his late forties to early fifties. Gerry, looking at Vince with a pair of intrigued eyes, said, "So, from what I have heard, you are Vince, correct? Can I have a little background on you?" Vince answered, "Absolutely. I am Vincent Valentine, Ex-Turks turned member of NEO-AVALANCHE, a resistance group fighting the SHIN-RA Corporation. I was shot and experimented on, then returned to life. When I finally awoke, I found that I could transform into horrifying creatures, and sealed myself in a coffin for years, after Hojo, the man responsible for my experimentation, locked the door of the basement shut. Years later, Cloud came around, freed me from my coffin, and though I was hesitant to join him, at first, I soon saw through his tough man façade. So far, we haven't even found a good lead on Sephiroth, who is trying to destroy the planet with a monstrous meteor." Gerry sat there, looking at Vince with a disbelieving look in his eyes. "Well then, I am Gerry, Head of WOOHP. From all of us here, thank you, Vincent-" Vince quickly interrupted, "Please, Call me Vince. Vincent is too long for me." Continuing from where he left off, Gerry said, "-All right, then, Vince. Can you remind the girls here to call me again when you have arrived to meet Cloud? I would like to meet him also." "Very well," Vince casually replied, "I will do that. It was nice to meet you, Gerry." "Likewise," Gerry replied, then turned to the girls, "Have any of you tested your upgrades?" Sam jumped at these words, and said, "NO! It totally slipped our minds. We were too busy escaping a burning mansion about five minutes after we were released from a rather awkward tying job in Vince's basement room." Sam held up her X-Powder and said, "Spy Engaged!" she waited for the feeling of metal and weapons attaching automatically to her body, but they never did. "Sorry, Ger," Sam said sadly, "The upgrades don't work." "Okay, then," Gerry replied, equally crest-fallen, "I guess my hopes were just that: hope." Gerry quickly said goodbye to Vince and the girls, then closed the connection. As they began to move forward, Vince suddenly grabbed them and turned them around, saying, "Watch It ! We've got company!" as they turned, the very air around them turned dark, but didn't twist and contort. From the dark silence came a deep, insane, sinister laugh, "HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!" When sight was possible again, before the quartet stood a tall man with an insanely long sword in hand. The man, his long white hair flowing behind him like a cape, and his spiked guard-dog-like shoulder armour, spoke in a menacing voice, "Ah, Vincent. So you have finally found your former team mates." Vince said, "Well, Sephiroth, You obviously haven't the brain power left to remember how I prefer my name to be said. But, then again, how can you have any mental strength left after Cloud whipped your ass back to the Lifestream. But wait, how can a man who went from being the world's strongest and intelligent tactical fighter to being the world most self-obsessed retarded psychopath have any head power left?" At this point, the girls could easily tell that, though Vince spoke in a voice that sounded tough and unfaltering, he was in fact just shy of pure terror. 'If that's what he can do to a man who is seemingly afraid of nothing,' Sam thought, 'I'd better keep my distance, thank you very much!' "So," Sephiroth said, looking at Clover, "I would really like to know, Aeris, first off, how you grew so tall. Second, why do you continue to back up your precious Cloud? And third, how in the world did you manage to reincarnate yourself within the Lifestream so quickly, and without the use of the white materia." Clover now looked terrified, but said nothing. "By the way, Sephiroth," Vice said nastily, "Why did you leave your mother's side? Were you getting tired of fighting Kadaj for dominance? Or were you tired of taking orders from a severed head in a box? Or was it a little of both?" "You shall pay for insulting mother, you wretched cur!" Sephiroth screamed, whipping his sword over his shoulder and into a combat stance. As the world twisted and spun, Vince called to the girls, "Watch out for that sword! If you get killed by that thing, you're never coming back!" This served only to worry the girls more. When Sephiroth was once more visible, he wasted no time in rushing forth to land a critical blow on Vince. As the girls witnessed this, Alex's head dropped, clouding her face from view. Sephiroth teased, "Ah, so you finally see it my way, do you, Yuffie Kisaragi? I am the best, and you are sorely inferior. Even Mother could beat you with her eyes closed." "I don't care," Alex's voice replied, though Alex did not seem to be Alex anymore. Something about her had changed; she now seemed to have been charged with righteous rage. "I don't care about any of that, Sephiroth. You injured our guide… I WILL KILL YOU!" Alex screamed the last words, before whipping out her X-Powder and shouting, "SPY ENGAGED!" The sky once again became dark, but this time Sephiroth was not at fault. As the sky continued to blacken, it was filled with flashes of lightning and crashes of thunder. Suddenly, a small seal appeared under Alex's feet, who was quickly struck by lightning. As the electricity surged through her and the seal, she was hidden behind a circular wall of lightning. Soon, a pair of demonic red eyes appeared inside the wall, and it dispersed, revealing not Alex, but a large woman, formed from thunder, and covered in electrically charged armour. In a deep, booming, electric voice, this woman shouted, "I AM THUNDAERIA, GODDESS OF ELECTRICITY!!!"

Well, I hope you enjoyed this Cliff-hanger! R&R, and keep the flames to a minimum, please!


	10. Elements, Roar: Three Godesses Unite!

Well, if you enjoyed chapter 8, you'll love chapter 9! Thanks for all the great reviews and support! For my first actually successful Fanfiction, you guys are great! Again, Thanks!

_**Chapter 10: Elements, Roar: Three Goddesses Unite!**_

As Sephiroth stared blankly from the new Alex to Vince and back, he simply leaned back and laughed his horrible laugh. "You have to be kidding, Ms Kisaragi. Even an untrained monkey could tell you just performed a Summoning!!" He taunted, only to be met with a roar that shook the sky to its core. "Thou fool! How dare thou insult me, Thundearia! I shalt make thee pay for thine transgressions!" Looking down on the other two girls, she said, "Cometh, Sisters! Let us beat this lowly cur back to hell from whence he hath cometh!" Recalling quickly what Alex had done, Sam summoned all her anger, thrust her X-Powder into the air, and called, "SPY ENGAGED!" Her communicator rose in the air, and, just as Sam raised her head skyward and extended her arms, it descended. With but a beep, it opened its holograph compartment and began wildly spinning as it poured down a deluge of water, quickly disappearing with her into the water. Soon, in the large puddle of water formed another pair of demonic red eyes, and from it arose a large female figure, made of water. "I AM AQUAERIA, GODDESS OF WATER!" called the woman, in a deep, bubbling voice. Clover now the only one to have done nothing, threw her X-Powder into the air and jumping to catch it, shouted "SPY ENGAGED!" just her hand touched its metal exterior. It opened, and poured down on her a torrent of flames, and was quickly lost to sight with her. From the small fire that was left, came a giant of a woman, covered in flaming armour and her hair itself aflame. "I AM BLAZAERIA, GODDESS OF FIRE!" She called, in a deep voice that seemed to burn the air. As Sephiroth once again looked from one of the newly formed super-women, then to Vince, and back again, he shock off the surprise of what he'd just seen, and instead opted to attack. Rushing forward and stabbing Thundaeria, he smirked briefly before looking up to see her smirking back. "Didst I fool you, thou fool?" she said, before sending a large electric shock wave coursing through his blade and straight into him. Sephiroth flew backwards, his hand losing grip of his sword, and landed on his back, his body jumping and twitching with excess electrical charge. As he stood, his face gained a look of terrified astonishment for the wound he had just inflicted on Thundaeria had just started to heal itself and, in seconds, was no more. "What?" Sephiroth asked the air, "But how? No one lives after being killed with my blade!" This time he took a swing at Aquaeria, only to end up swimming in her! As he swung his sword, Aquaeria opened her belly and, throwing Sephiroth off guard, pulled him inside. "HAHAHAHA! Face this, ye mortal scum!" she said, before expelling a near-drowned Sephiroth onto the ground. Sputtering and gasping for breath, Sephiroth stopped for several seconds to consider his options. 'All right,' he thought, 'If striking the thundering one results in me getting zap-fried, and striking the watery one almost drowns me, then striking the flaming one should get me char-broiled. Still, I can't leave an opportunity left untaken.' With that, he once more attacked, but this time, when his blade made contact with Blazaeria's fiery skin, he was not burned in retribution; he was blasted with a large fireball! As he struggled to stand despite the massive number of burn wounds on his body, he opted this time to attack Vince again. But when he went to attack, he swung nothing but air. Confused, Sephiroth swung again, and again, but continued to do nothing but divert the air. Looking at his sword, he discovered to his utter terror that it has been MELTED! "No!! HOW CAN THIS BE?! The Masamune is supposed to be indestructible!!!!" Sephiroth cried, his hands trembling and his eyes looking ripe to fly out of their sockets. "Now," Thundaeria said, reaching up and pulling from her head two of her thunder bolt locks to form a long katana from them, the blade long and jagged and menacing, more so than the Masamune had been. "Now, sisters, join me in eradicating this wretched nuisance." She held her sword as Sephiroth had, and her sisters did likewise. Aquaeria formed a bladed longbow from her cape, complete with matching arrow quiver. Blazaeria plunged her hands into her belly, and from her own loins pulled a massive sword. The handle was wrapped in flames, and the blade, which was blue-hot, had a half-moon indent mid-way down and a hole in the middle of it. Extending the sword outward, Sephiroth didn't need to look past his shoulder to grasp the concept that this thing could cleave him in half with but a scratch! Just as Blazaeria raised her sword, she and her sisters cringed, and started to scream. Looking from them to Sephiroth, who gave him a 'what the hell?!' look, Vince shrugged, and then looked back at Clover, who was now looking at him. "Hey, Vince!" Clover said, in Blazaeria's deep roaring voice, "Pop them eyes back in your head, man! You're making me ten types of self-conscious. Now, what say we give this jerk a shellacking' he won't soon forget?" Blazaeria, like her sisters, still had her body, but was not under her caller's control! They cringed again, and the three were once again under their own control. Aquaeria Drew her bow and released a colossal arrow, which flew at Sephiroth as Blazaeria shot a large flaming energy beam into it, increasing its power several times. Then, Thundaeria released a giant thunder blast into the already empowered attack, multiplying that power by several hundred times! The attack hit Sephiroth squarely in the middle of his body, and seemed to incinerate from the sheer power and brute force of the attack. When the smoke cleared, he was still standing. "Well, well. Aeris still has some kick left in her… this will be fun! Until next time, Aeris, next time you will die. For the final time." Sephiroth squatted, grabbed the singed handle of his melted Masamune, and dashed away. Clover, Alex, and Sam returned to their normal selves, and Vince just stood there, thinking, 'How in the world did those three pull off such a high-level technique? Not even Cloud has that kind of power! This is amazing… Cloud won't be too happy to hear this…' He was brought from his reverie by Alex's shout of, "VINCE! WAKE UP!!! HEY, ANYONE HOME?!" He almost went into orbit when he did snap out of it. Instead of saying anything, Vince stayed perfectly silent, and quickly corralling the girls, hustled them over to his buggy. He turned the ignition, and the buggy was in motion. 'Oh, Shiva,' Vince thought silently, 'please help me through this.'

Here ya go! Chapter 10! Chapter 11 should be around soon! As soon as I figure out how Im going to type it and when! Not to mention when I finally get past this infernal writer's block. Oh well!


	11. Cloud’s Team: North Corel At Last!

Chapter 11! Hope you enjoy!

Chapter 11 – Cloud's Team: North Corel At Last!

The rest of the trip was boring, to say the least. Clover slept, while Sam and Alex looked out the windows at the scenery. Vince, however, was deep in thought. 'How in the hell am I going to explain this to Cloud?' Vince thought, 'What is he going to say when I tell him about all this? How did they even beat Sephiroth? He is the strongest person in the world, and yet three newcomers from another dimension sent him running home to Jenova!' As they passed over a small creek, Alex asked, "Hey! Wouldn't the engine get flooded from going through all this water? Wouldn't we be trapped here from water-logging?" Vince laughed silently, then looked at her through the rear-view mirror, and said, "No, no. The engines were specially remodelled by Cid so that if the buggy's engine runs through water, the water will be siphoned out by a small pipe, and then ejected through a small hole under the exhaust pipe. Then, no matter how much water we trek through, nothing will ever wreck this buggy. It's also explode-proof from the outside, bullet-proof outside, and sword-proof on both sides, because Cloud often battles these goons named Kadaj and Loz, who seems to enjoy using small blade-type weapons. Kadaj wields an extremely small sword, while Loz, his brother, uses a spring-loaded tazer that can release tens of thousands of volts of electric charge in a press of a button. Kadaj also has another younger brother, Yazoo, who fights using a small pistol. If luck will have it, you may not have to fight them." "Hey, Vince," Sam asked, just in time for Clover to wake up, "Who are the Turks? Can you tell us what we can expect of them?" Vince, now sounding quite confident of himself, said, "Sure, although should luck have it, you won't have to fight them either. Their leader, Reno, is a cocky, fire-headed young man who prefers close-range combat above long-range, like most of the people you'll meet. He fights his battles with his fists, his intense agility, and his ever-present nightstick, which, like Loz's tazer, can unleash a seemingly unlimited amount of electricity into an opponent's body. Also, using his Turk Light skill, he can quickly and easily confuse anyone who isn't equipped with a ribbon, which cancels out negative status ailments, such as poison and sleep when in battle. It also prevents you from being shrunk or turned into a frog. Then, you have Rude. He is much more physically built than Reno, and like Reno prefers close range combat over guns. He uses fists and magic, which for reasons only known to him, counts as 'Close-range combat'. Then you have Elena, the ONLY female member of the Turks. She uses only long-range type weapons, and prefers using grenades and such instead of her fists. They are not to be taken lightly, not even when you do that… strange… transformation thing you did. How did you do that, anyway? One minute, Sephiroth lands a massive hit on me, and the next, Alex turns into a giant thunder-woman. Then, Sam follows and becomes water-girl, and Clover finishes the pattern by turning into fire-lady. How did you work that? And what are those 'UPGRADES' Gerry was talking about?" "Well, Vince," Clover said, "Our upgrades were supposed to be bodily. Our X-Powder communicators are supposed to cover our bodies in high-tech armour and weapons, but instead, they brought out… those three… I wonder what Gerry would say if he found out…" Clover then proceeded to pull out her communicator, only to have Sam put it away. "No, Clover. I don't think Gerry needs to know everything that happens while we're here. We'll tell him when we complete our objectives," Sam said quietly. As the buggy continued moving forward, Sam and Alex were the ones to fall victim to the powerful urge of sleep, while Clover took her turn to take in the scenery. "That there is the forest where we first got Yuffie to join our team," Vince said, pointing to a large forest that, Clover saw, was guarded by a massive army of frogs. "With those frogs, there is no six step program for defeating you. They either jab you with their little claws, or they sing a song that instantly puts you to sleep, while changing you into a frog yourself." Clover reeled at the thought, and instead, continued watching the scenery pass by. "Vince, where are we going? Are we getting there soon? All I see is desert." "Actually, that desert is where our base is located. When the Shin-Ra crushed the Sector 7 slums, We have been situated in Barret's hometown of North Corel, a place that used to be a coal-mining town until the Shin-Ra forced the construction of a Mako reactor there, then proceeded to burn down the town while Barret was gone," Vince said, "That is why Barret has such a deep-seated hatred of the Shin-Ra. In his vision, they are like a plague of locusts, while we, NEO AVALANCHE are the exterminators sent in to eradicate them. So for, we are doing pretty well. Cloud's main priority has been finding Sephiroth, though he won't be too happy to hear what happened. Ah, we're here, ladies! Wake up!" he called, waking Sam and Alex, who opened their eyes just in time to see a large throng of people waiting for the car. "Why are all these people waiting for you, Vince?" Clover asked, "Did you do something?" "Actually, with them," Vince responded quietly, it's about what I can do for them. They are always asking me to do favours for them. Just because I can fly, lm always asked to go and rescue kittens stuck in trees, save grannies that have fallen in a well, things like that. I don't exactly mind doing it, and Cloud says it's good for the image and reputation of the group if all our members help people. So, I continue to do it. Though, right now, I have to get you three to Cloud, so get ready to be mobbed." As they opened the doors and stepped out, the mass of people ran to the small buggy, and from all directions came requests and pleadings for help. "Everyone, I will help you as soon as I get these three ladies to Cloud for introductions and interviews." With that, Vince shrouded the three and flew off to Cloud's tent. Sliding the material open, he called, "CLOUD! Guess who's back! And guess who I brought with me!" Cloud, sitting at a makeshift desk, looked up from a file, and seeing Vince, said, "AH, Vince. I suspect you have the three girls with you? Am I right?" "You would be right, CLOUD!" Clover shouted, as she, Sam and Clover bolted from under Vince's cloak and straight at Cloud. Instantly throwing their arms around him, their closed eyes were oblivious to the fact that their combined grip was suffocating, not just startling, their new leader! "Um… Girls, a… little… breathing room… would be… great right… now I… can't … breathe…" He gasped in between words, attempting to get enough in his system to hold his breath, but couldn't keep it in long enough. After what seemed like an eternity, the girls let go of a now completely blue faced Cloud, who instantly drew in enough breath to form a small tornado in his lungs. Exhaling slowly, he spoke. "Well, it's nice to see tat you're all so enthusiastic, but next time, ease up on the grip if you don't mind. I almost suffocated through that massive group hug. So, if you three will stay outside while Vince and I discuss things related to our task at hand. I will inform you fully when I'm done with him, OK?" "All right! Let's wait outside, ok, girls?" said the husky voice of Barret, who had just popped up behind them. Shrieking slightly, Clover jumped in place, while Sam and Alex pulled their respective weapons on him. "Whoa, there, little ladies! It's me, Barret! I spoke to ya on the PHS system, remember?" Alex thought carefully, and then said, "OH YEAH! You were the guy who whined about not getting ammo money like a little kid whining about not getting an allowance." Barret, his left eye now twitching, walked out of the tent, and the second he was out of eye sight, a blast shook the earth.

Well, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! I finally got through this damnable writers block! There are references to other games that Cloud had playable roles in, such as Kingdom Hearts and FF Tactics, in which Part two will take place. I hope that Tamara Jones is ready for a double dose of past events! Oopsie, Spoiler! Chapter 12 will be up soon! R&R and flames are welcome.


	12. ATTENTION: RUFUS HAS BEEN BEATEN!

CHAPTER 12! YAH!

Chapter 12: ATTENTION: RUFUS HAS BEEN BEATEN!

"Don't worry, girls," Cloud said, shaking his head, "Barret is usually like that after being called the equivalent of a child. Even if it's not said, if it's implied, he'll catch it and blow up like that." But, seconds later, Barret came racing back into the tent, yelling, "CLOUD WE GOT COMPANY! IT'S THE SHIN-RA! RUFUS IS HERE, AND HE BROUGHT THE TURKS!" Cloud shot from his desk, and asked, "Vince, Can I use your PHS?" Vince nodded and handed Cloud the tiny phone. Flipping it open, he called all of the other members and said, "LOOK ALIVE, PEOPLE! WE'VE GOT TURKS!" As Vince and Barret raced out of the tent, Cloud stopped and asked the girls, "How are you with battling the Turks?" "Well," Clover replied, "If they are anything like that Sephiroth guy, they shouldn't be too hard!" Cloud stopped dead in his tracks. "Wait, WHAT?" he asked, but too late, for the girls were running out of the tent and straight towards the rest of the group, in front of which were three people: three men, one with crew-cut blonde and wearing a long white coat, one bald and one with spiky flame-like hair, and a woman, with short ear-lobe length hair. The last three were dressed in blue suits and ties. "Well? Are you people going to bring them out here, or do I have to detonate another bomb? This time, I can't guarantee that I won't end up killing some of you." Sam arrived at the head of the pack, and said, "Who are you, and what do you want?" "Ah, more strangers from distant lands, eh? Which island are you from, hmm? Wutai? No, you don't carry that distinct Wutai accent and look. You three are from one of the Materia cave islands, aren't you?" said the man in the white coat. "What are you talking about? We came from Vince's mansion!" Clover shouted irately. "AH! That dilapidated old thing? You're lucky you got out. Oh, and congratulations, Reno. Your bounty money will be on your desk tommorow morning," the man in the white coat said, then continued, "Hear me, people of North Corel, I am Rufus Shin-Ra, and this land belongs to me!" Alex was now right behind Sam and Clover, and hearing this, said, "This doesn't belong to you! Just 'cause you run the Shin-Ra Corporation, doesn't mean you OWN everything outside your little hometown of Midgar City!" The villagers began mumbling and murmuring, prompting Rufus to turn to the flame headed young man and say, "Reno, take care of her." Reno, pulling out a small rod, nodded his head and advanced on Alex, saying, "Sorry, babe. If I weren't on duty right now, maybe I wouldn't have to kill you." He then rushed at Alex, who, instinctively pulling out her sword, dashed at him. As the two glided past each other, Reno with his rod forward and one hand in a pocket, and Alex with her sword in a suicide attack position, the villagers were surprised to see Alex stand. Not only that, but a large gash appeared in Reno's suit, and a large cut on his stomach. As Reno fell to the ground, his rod split in two. Cloud saw this, and thought, 'Holy hell! if she's capable of that, I don't want to know what they are capable of as a team!' Rufus stepped forward and said, "Well, well. It appears we have another youth who doesn't understand the system. Rude, please show her how Shin-Ra works." Rude stepped forward and, pulling his fist back as if to punch the air, thrust it forward, sending a bolt of lightning crashing down on Alex. This caused a massive dust cloud to form. "Hahaha. HAHAHAHA!!! Not bad, getting past Reno. But Rude is our leading magic man, despite his physical build. Let's go. Oh, and Reno," Rufus said, walking away with Rude and Elena in tow, "For failing to take out a lowly girl, You are canned from the Turks. We will find a replacement for you." "NOT… SO… FAST," came a voice from the dust cloud, and as it dissipated, Alex's body could be seen… STANDING?! "When your little buddy here threw that lightning bolt at me, I allowed my katana to act for me, and it captured the electric charge. Nice try, yourself, Mr. Rude, but not even near close enough," she said, before jumping in the air and slashing downward, shouting, "SKY, TEAR ASUNDER. LIGHTNING, PUNCTURE! NEEDLE BOLT!" and releasing a massive number of versions of her sword, each super-charged with electricity. The flying blades hit everywhere in Rude's vicinity, causing an even greater dust cloud to rise. When it dissipated, Rude's body could be seen lying on the ground, torn and wounded in multiple areas. "no…" he said, just before coughing up one spurt of blood and losing consciouuness. "Impossible… Only Cloud has ever truly beaten Rude! Elena, get her!" The last remaining Turk pulled a number of miniature grenades from her pocket, and threw them, one after another at Alex, who cut most in half, and deflected the last ones right back into Elena: one in her mouth, one in her suit, and one under her feet. Looking at her boss with a look of regret, Elena shed one single tear as the grenades exploded, sending her now unconscious body soaring into the air with a loud, inhuman scream of 'NOOOOOOOOO!!" As she landed back on the ground, her body battered and filled with shrapnel, Rufus stepped forward, filled with rage. "I can't believe one girl, one puny, insignificant girl, was able to defeat the mighty Turks!" He said, now popping three visible veins, then continued, "You three are all disgraces! I will handle this." Rufus threw off his large coat, revealing a large machine gun, as tall as him and just as wide! Alex reacted instinctively, and let the sword do all the work. Holding her sword in front of herself, she closed her eyes and let go. "HAHA! JUST WHAT DO YOU THINK THAT WILL ACCOMPLISH?!" Rufus shouted, and, strapping on the ammunition, he fed the first bullet into the ammo slot and started firing. As the bullets flew at Alex, the sword began flying in all directions, until it was no longer visible to the naked eye. The bullets bounced off the sword uselessly, and soon, every single round was on the ground, smoking. As Rufus struggled to reload, Alex threw her eyes open and grabbed her sword, taking full control of the situation. Rushing straight at Rufus, she thrust her sword outwards as she passed him. For several seconds, nothing happened. Then, a large hole formed in Rufus' stomach, going all the way around to his back. But, when Alex turned around with a smirk, she saw something too horrifying for words: Rufus' injury was healing at an accelerated rate! Soon, the only thing that remained of it was a well developed scar, which also soon disappeared. "You honestly didn't think a flimsy attack like that would really kill me?" he said, turning to face Alex. "ALEX!" Clover and Sam shouted as they ran forward to help. "Who are you three? Rebels with Cloud?" "Yes, we are," Sam said, "We are Sam, Clover, and Alex, the newest members of NEO AVALANCHE. We are proud to serve this valiant crew, and will aid them in kicking your tyrannic butt back to Midgar! Girls, let's go!" Alex pulled out her sword once more, Clover's gloved formed on her hands, and the blades of Sam's shield extended. Rufus threw his hands to the sky, and summoned a massive thunderstorm to electrocute each girl. However, each did what Alex had done earlier, and each one sent the attack back at him. As the dust cleared, Rufus stood there, nearly defeated, but still healing! The girls knew what they had to do. They activated their materia, and started casting their individual magical element, releasing it on Rufus at just the right time. When the dust went this time, Rufus was lying on the ground, as badly beaten as Sephiroth had been.

Well, Let me know. Chapter 13 soon to come.


	13. The Turks in Hospital: Bedside Hyjinks!

CHAPTER 13!!

Chapter 13: The Turks in Hospital: Bedside Hyjinks!

"Ugh… there is no way I was just beaten by three delinquent girls!" he said, coughing up two spurts of blood. "Oh, and by the way," Alex said, moving forward, and standing right in front of Rufus, her katana held in her hand, "This is for calling me Puny and Insignificant." She swung downward, but Rufus never felt the attack hit him. When he opened his eyes, he saw a small indentation in the ground in front of him. He knew what she had done, and called the corporation to send a chopper. Soon, the villagers watched as a med team rushed out of a landing chopper, put Rufus on a stretcher, and made a run for it. When it left, they returned to their normal lives. Meanwhile, inside the town's clinic, Cloud and Vince were watching the fallen Turks, waiting for them to wake.

Reno was the first to open his eyes. "wha… what? Where am I? And… Where is this?"

Cloud said calmly, "You are in the North Corel Clinic, recovering from serious injuries, so I'd suggest staying down and resting." Reno, hearing Cloud's voice, started struggling, and shouted,

"NO! I'M IN ENEMY HANDS! Where are my cyanide pills?!" "We combed your clothes before admitting you, so you have none anymore. That's them over there," Cloud said, pointing for Reno's eyes to follow. His eyes trailed to a small sink where a nurse was finishing the disposal of a small bottle of pills down the drain.

"NOOOO! " Reno screamed, as he struggled against his bonds. "It is my duty to the Shin-Ra to kill myself if I'm ever captured. Now, I can't anymore…" he said, just as Elena awoke from her sleep and, sleepily, said, "Wha… what? Where am i?" "Don't bother, Elena. They got us. We are in the North Corel Clinic, being treated for serious injuries. They combed our clothes before they admitted us, and I just watched a nurse pour the last of our cyanide pills down that sink over there," Reno said. "No… I can't fulfill my duty…" Elena whispered to herself.

Rude soon after awoke, took a quick look around, and turned to look at Reno, saying, "Let me guess. North Corel Clinic, recovering from serious wounds, and all of our cyanide pills have been dumped down a drain?" "As perceptive as ever, Rude," Reno replied stoically, "Didn't miss a thing. Except for the fact that our enemies have captured us." "Actually, Reno," Rude said, "Just before all this happened, Rufus fired you. I think he carried that over to all three of us. By the way, how's Elena?" "Why?" Reno asked, intrigued, "What happened? Did she try and avenge us?" "No, actually," Rude replied, "After you got your ass handed to you by that girl, I was ordered to take her out, and also failed. But, what I saw through my blurred vision was incredible. Elena attempted one of her 'Mini-nade Barrage' attacks, only to have most of it destroyed and the last three backfire on her. One in her mouth, one down her shirt, and one right under her legs." "Really? Ouch, that has to hurt, having a KO grenade explode on your chest," Reno said, with hints of pity and pain on his voice. "To answer your question, Rude," Elena's voice sounded from across the room, "I AM IN AN UNBEARABLE, EXCRUCIATING, UNGODLY AMOUNT OF PAIN! I feel like the Highwind landed on me and crushed everything from the bottom up, lengthwise. Literally. My mouth feels like it's full of copper wire and cotton wads, and my chest feels like I have a pair of coiled bacon strips dangling from it. I won't even touch on how my legs and upward into me feels, but the doctors say they're going to have to operate to get all the shrapnel out of my body. I hope they overdose me on painkillers and anesthetics." "You're that bad off? Surgery? Geez, it should have been me," Reno said, sounding genuiely pained. "Reno," Elena said, "I don't really think you want to have your twig and berries filled with or cut off by shrapnel." "Um… yeah, Reno…," Rude broke in, "That may have been a nice sentiment and all, but… I wouldn't even wish that fate on Sephiroth." "OH, yeah, good point," Reno said, "I don't think I want ot be made incapable of getting it on with the ladies. Way to much to lose… so, … HAHAHA! Elena, you suck!" Reno's mood and attitude changed considerably with this comment. "Gee, thanks Reno," Elena said, "You're my hero. You're so up there, you wouldn't even take a trio of grenades for a team mate." "Oh, Reno, you got served," Rude said as he started chuckling, then laughing hysterically. "Hey, Rude, ya know what?" Reno asked, to which Rude replied, "What?" Reno, with a smile on his face, turned over in his bed and said, "Suck it, Rude. Suck it long, and suck it hard." Elena, surprised at this exchange, said, "First off, Rude, this time it's you got served. Hard. And Reno, are you really that gay?" "I AM NOT GAY!!!" Reno said, while Rude just kept on laughing. Soon, Reno was laughing, and then All three Turks were laughing uncontrolably. "Ah! I think I snapped something!" gasped Elena; At this, Reno looked at Rude, who looked back at him, and then both started raoring in hysteric laughter. Soon, Elena was laughing with them, so hard that she almost feel out of her bed. In a few minutes, all three were exausted again, and promptly fell asleep. Outside, Cloud and Vince were talking. "Well, it seems they finally laughed themselves to sleep. So," Cloud said, "Explain Vince. How can three girls be that powerful? I mean, I could never destroy Reno's rod. I was never able to capture elemental magic attacks in my weapon and return it back… I was NEVER capable of dodging one of Elena's grenade attacks… I can't understand it." "Well," Vince said, trying to gather his thoughts, "The three of them can get in two Limit Breaks for one full guage. They can also combine their Limit Breaks to create a … well, I don't know what to call it, but it's like they summon the gates of Hell themselves to suck up their foes. I actually WATCHED them do it, too! They can cast magic at once, without having to wait for a turn. I watched them destroy a Tonberry in that fashion. Like we saw today, they can do things that the group can't. Heck, using three small communicators from their world, they were able to not only summon three creatures, but become them, too! In that form, they completely annihilated Sephiroth!" "Wait, wait. You mean to tell me that Sephiroth is no longer wandering the planet?" Cloud asked, now worried. His only real opponent had always been Sephiroth. "No, They didn't kill him," Vince said in an assuring tone, "I don't think they have it in them to kill anything." Cloud sighed deeply, then said, "Good. At least I can still finish him myself. That much reassures me." "Why are you so obsessed with beating him, Cloud?" Vince asked, perplexed, "I mean, you beat him in the North Crater. Twice, I might add. You beat him in Midgar when Kadaj put the Black Materia in his armour and transformed into him. And you beat him when you teleported to the other alternate dimension with Tifa and Ended up back here. You beat the darkness within. Now, you have to let it go. Ignore the darkness. Expel it." Cloud nodded, and said, "Maybe it is about time I got rid of it. You're right, Vince. OK, keep my back." Suddenly, Cloud screamed in pain, and turned to face Vince, who was holding a large slab of flesh in his hands. "GODDESS BE DAMNED, VINCE! I DIDN'T MEAN LITTERALLY!" Cloud shouted though screams of pain, then grabbed his torn back flesh and ran to the doctor, his exposed spine seeming to enjoy the open air around it. Vince chuckled slightly, then muttered, "Watch what you say Cloud…", and walked away.

Well, that is it for now. Chappy 14 up soon!


	14. SS1 C1: CAUGHT: Bomber Hostage!

Going off the main story, we are stepping back in time to the day Cloud went to the Shin-Ra building and found Shadow Blaze, the completely cold and perverted opposite of his neurotic and (partially) psychotic brother, Nogias Frazar. While they may have different last names, they are brothers. Enjoy! BTW, small note, SSC Is Side Story Chapter.

Side-Story 1.25: Handicap: A Bombing Hostage!

Cloud was working silently in his tent. The air was warm, and just enough to make poor Cloud start dozing off. Just as his eyes closed and he drifted off into a sound sleep, Cait Sith's giant cat-topped mog body blew in through the entrance of the tent and shouted, "CLOUD! WE GOT TROUBLE!"

Cloud almost flew into the ceiling. Gathering his composure, Cloud said, "What? What is it Cait Sith?" Cait Sith just looked at him with a teasing look, and said, "Don't worry Cloud. I won't tell anyone yeh were resting yer eyes."

"WHAT IS IT, CAIT SITH?!" Cloud shouted, rocking the foundations of the earth. "Weyell," Cait Sith replied, now clearly frightened out of his wits, "Um… Reeve just called. Rufus has completed his recruitment procedures. He's found his replacement Turks."

"WHAT?! When did you find this out?" Cloud inquired, getting a nervous look from Cait Sith. "Wait, you didn't just find out now, did you?" Cloud asked angrily. "Well, I was gunna, but everyone told me yeh were too busy, that yeh'd snap if I bugged yeh. I was gunna wait till yeh were done, but I geyess now is as good a time as eveh."

"Ok, whatever. Who applied, and who failed? Those that failed might be willing to defect to our side," Cloud said, now enthusiastic at the prospect of extra hands. "Weyell, there were many of yer garden-variety Shin-Ra troops, and there were some 3rd and 2ND Class SOLDIERs in there too. There were also two from the higha-ups: another Ex-Turks, and a Special-Operations unit."

"The Ex-Turks was a rather freaky head-case, actually. Went from being a Turks to being the President's Secret Guard. While the Later-than-late OLD MAN Shin-Ra was alive, no one touched him. The guy was asleep when the old fart died, and was kicked back to the Turks by Rufus. They couldn't handle him, so Hojo II gave him some heavy sedatives and had him carted off to Shin-Ra Mansion in much the same style we found Vince: stuffed in a coffin and locked in a basement from which he could not escape."

"Ok and the other?" Cloud asked, to which came Cait Sith's response, "Well, the other was the guard guys bruthah. Though they went by separate names when they left their hometown, they still claim to be bruthas. Anyway, he is a Special-Operations type, so very skilled with weapons, though he prefers close-range blade combat, much like yourself, Cloud."

"Ah, another swordsman, huh? This could get interesting. Ok, so where is the Special-Ops guy?" Cloud asked, getting the response, "He's in a Cryo-Stasis Chamber in the Shin-Ra Building." Cloud, now thinking hard, looked at Cait Sith and said, "OK, I want you to corral everyone that's left of the group and have them meet at the Bonfire Pit in fifteen minutes. Got it?"

"Crystal, Boss!" Said the mog-riding cat as he left, hopping off to his destination. Cloud sat at his desk, deep in thought. Fifteen minutes later, Barret, Red XIII, Cid, Vince, and Cait Sith were sitting at the pit, staring at Cloud.

"Ok, people," Cloud began, "Cait Sith has just given me some startling information. Rufus has finished his recruitment procedures." Everyone stood up and started shouting, each wanting an explanation; the only exceptions were Cait Sith, the source of Cloud's Intel, Red XIII, who remained ever-stoic, and Vince, who simply retained his quiet, calm composure. "QUIET!" Clod shouted, causing all who had risen to fall deathly silent; while they sat, he continued.

"Of the many that applied, two caught his attention, and mine, similarly. One is an ex-Turks, who was promoted to guarding the old man before his untimely death. The other is the Guard guy's brother, from Special-Ops. From what I hear, both are powerful, but both were rejected from the recruitment procedures. The Ex-Turks was sedated, sealed in a casket, and left in the basement room of Vince's mansion. The other was handed off to Hojo's son for testing and modifications. I say that we head off to the Shin-Ra Building first then take care of the brother. I'd like a show of hands. all for the Shin-Ra building?"

Cloud paused, reading four hands, then continuing, "And all for the mansion?" Including his own, Cloud counted two hands. "Ok," Cloud said, "Since I have been outnumbered, we'll be attacking the Shin-Ra headquarters tomorrow. I'll be taking Vince, for his expertise in clearing a hallway. I'll take Cid, for his demolitions expertise-"

"OH YEAH, $!" Cid shouted joyously, as Cloud continued, "- Barret for his weapons,-" "HELL YEYEH! BRING ON SOME SHINRA JERKS!" Barret shouted. Cloud continued, "And I'll be taking the three new girls, for observational purposes."

"Cloud, ah yeh nuts?" Barret shouted, standing, "You haven't even inducted them yet! Now you wanna kill them by sending them in there unprepared?!" "Trust me Barret," Cloud replied, "If what Vince has told me is true, I won't need to worry about them. Now, Barret, Cid, Go and get yourselves prepared. I'm going to go and ask the girls if they are ready."

As everyone left the bonfire, Cloud walked over to the girls' tent, only to be blocked by Cid. "Ya know Cloud, Barret has a point," Cid said, looking and sounding worried, "What if they aren't ready? I mean, they just got here. We shouldn't be throwing them into missions this fast!"

Cloud thought this over for a minute, then said, "You know Cid, you may just be right." Cid's face lit up considerably, and then fell to a rage-filled scowl as Cloud continued, "But I think my way is better. So, I'll do things my way, if you don't mind." As Cloud walked off Cid began furiously screaming, prompting Vince to act as a restraint.

THE NEXT DAY…

Cloud woke up early, corralling Cid, Barret, Vince, Sam, Clover and Alex, and hustled everyone into the buggy. As they drove, Cloud began asking questions. "So, girls," he said, "Where do you hail from? What city are you from?"

"Well," Sam said, "We are from a place that is not of this world." "WHOA!" shouted Cid, "YOU MEAN TO TELL MEH YOU'RE F&$ ANGELS!!?" Clover giggled, while Alex blushed. "No," Sam said, her face turning its own bright shade of red, "We aren't angels. We are from a world called Earth, on a continent called North America. We hail, more specifically, from a small town called Los Angeles, in the state of California, within the United States of America."

"So," Cloud repeated, "You are from Los Angeles, California, USA, North America, all of Planet Earth?" Clover, amazed that Cloud could name off everything, said, "Yes! exactly!" to which Cloud replied, "Ok, that's believable."

"YEH, ALONG WITH FLYING REACTORS AND THE TOOTH FAIRY!-(remind you of a certain orange haired Soul Reaper? hehe) Hehe, fairy. hahe," Cid laughed as he finished his sentence. Cloud asked another question. "Where do you work? and if you do, who for?" Alex piped up, and said, "We work for WOOHP, The World Organization of Human Protection, under our boss. we can contact him, if you like!"

Cloud perked up, and said, "Sure! hook up your comm. device to my PHS. I charged it the second it died, a week ago." Cloud pulled his PHS from its pocket, and handed it to Alex, who connected it to her X-Powder, and rang up Gerry.

"Oh, hello girls!" Gerry said, upon seeing them, "How are things going?" "Great, Gerry!" Clover exclaimed, "Cloud here invited us to join his team!" "You mean to tell me that you're defecting to another spy institute? I thought we'd given you everything!? Put this "Claude" on the phone, I want a word with him!" Gerry screamed crossing his arms as Clover handed the phones to Cloud, who set them up in a holder.

"Alright, You have me on the phone, Gary, what do you want?" Cloud said, his request brining great displeasure to Gerry. "IT'S GERRY, NOT GARY! NOW, WHAT DID YOU OFFER MY GIRLS IN EXCHANGE FOR DEFECTION?" Gerry shrieked, almost deafening everyone. "FIRST, IF YOU WANT ME TO SAY YOUR NAME RIGHT, YOU'D BETTER SAY MINE RIGHT! IM CLOUD, NOT CLAUDE! AS IN CLOUDS IN THE SKY! AND SECOND, I DIDN'T OFFER THEM ANYTHING! THEY SAW THE STATE OF AFFAIRS OUT HERE, AND JOINED OF THEIR OWN WILL!" Cloud shouted back, equally loud, to which Gerry replied, "STOP SHOUTING!"

Cloud, not wanting to be told what to do, yelled back, "NO, YOU STOP SHOUTING!" the two gave each other a ten second death-glare, and then turned. The rest of the ride went quite loudly, with Gerry making an occasional comment and Cloud retorting loudly, before they arrived at their destination. At that point, Cloud unhooked the PHS from Alex's X-Powder, and turned off the phone.

"Well, girls, I hate to leave you," Gerry said, then quietly, "really, I do," to which Cloud shouted, "HEY! I HEARD THAT!". "Anyway, I hate to leave you, but I have WOOHP matters to attend to. So long!" Gerry finished, and his image left the tiny device as it closed. "Well, Girls, here we are!" Cloud said, as the buggy arrived at the gates of Sector Five.

Stepping out and staring at the tall building, the girls, for once in their lives, felt truly small. "Hey! we need to get moving. Cid has a plan to open up an entrance to the building from below. Cid, Get to work. We'll give you some room," Cloud said, getting a negative reply from Cid.

"Yeh, well, you'd better stay over here then. I made a friend in here the last time we came. It shouldn't take too long to get in and set up the BOMB," Cid said, before running over to the gate, knocking out the only guard, and proceeding through the gate. A few minutes passed, and then Cloud got a call on the PHS.

"HEY SPIKEY!" Cid shouted, as he appeared on and off the screen, with sounds of punching and kicking and slashing filling the air. "Cid? What's going on in there?" Cloud asked, to which Cid stated, "I got ambushed! Rufus was expecting us, and set up a trap in Sector Five so we wouldn't escape!" Suddenly, Cid's face gained a look of shock and pain, and the screen tilted sideways. Then, as it left his face, a new one showed: that of Rufus Shin-Ra!

"So, Cloud, You figured that you could barge in here, blow a hole in my corporate building, and kill of my entire army. HA! and again, HA! You thought wrong. I now have your friend, Kid was it?"

"As a matter of fact, Dogface, It's Cid, and you won't have him for long!" Cloud said, hanging up. "Seeing as Cid put a silent GPS tracer in each phone, we should be able to track him. Vince," Cloud said, "Take Barret and get in there, clear the halls, and meet us at the fiftieth floor for mandatory regroup. I'm getting the girls some combat practice."

As Barret and Vince nodded and took off, Clover asked, "Cloud, exactly what is this about?" "oh, if you three are anything like what I saw when you destroyed Rufus and the Turks, you'll be just fine. now let's go. Who's knows what they'll do to Cid and what they'll get out of him."

They dashed to the building, the front door of which Cloud slashed open, and entered with little problem. The receptionist, however, winked at Cloud and pushed a button, setting off an alarm that told everyone to get out. After the alarm was turned off, two armed guards rushed from elevators and to the desk, where they asked about the alarm.

"Oh, don't worry about it. It was a false alarm." Cloud jumped from behind the opposite side of the desk and made short work of the guards, decapitating each in seconds. "Thanks, Harriet. That was great. Nice move on the alarm," Cloud said, leaning in and gently kissing the receptionist's cheek, causing her to blush a slight shade of red. "T-t-thanks, Cloud," she said, turning away and asking, "When do I get to defect?" "Anytime you want, Harriet. Just give me the word, and I'll send someone to get you." She smiled and returned to her work as Cloud and the girls rushed to the now active elevators.

"Say, Cloud," Sam said, her curiosity getting the better of her, "How do you know that receptionist?" "Oh, you mean Harriet?" Cloud asked, pushing open the large metal doors of the elevator with ease, "I saved her from a bunch of rapist thugs a while back, and she offered me money in return. I said "No", so she offered me her services as an inside gal in the Shin-a Corp. So, I accepted, and now she wants to fully defect to our side."

"And you're just going to let her?" Alex asked, slightly worried. "I don't see a reason why she can't," he continued, "Especially after the 'extra' service she gave me that one time. In fact, I'm going to wok this a different way. One of you will stay behind and guard her. If more guards come-" "AHHHH!" came a feminine scream from around the corner, prompting cloud to quickly throw his blade towards the desk, nailing the head of the guard who was now holding Harriet by the throat. The guard fell, releasing Harriet from his grasp, and she ran to Cloud with his sword in her hand. "Thanks once again, Cloud," she said timidly, before leaning in and passively flashing him before leaving to her desk. "Well, that was awfully… chummy of her to do that," Clover said, as Cloud lead the way into the elevator and up. "Well, I did mention that she gave me some "extra service", didn't I?" Cloud asked, staying silent as the elevator went up.

Well, this chapter would have been far too big if I'd posted it this way, so, I'll be making a second part to it to finish things off. Again, thanks to everyone who reads and reviews this, and hopefully that's exactly what you'll do! Please R&R, Flames are welcomed.


	15. SS1 C2: Office Trouble: Sephiroth AGAIN?

And here it is, Part two of the harrowing tale of The Rescue of two people: Cid AND Ashe. Hope this plays out well enough.

Side-Story 1.5: Trouble At Home: SEPHIROTH AGAIN?!

Cloud and the girls arrived at the fiftieth floor, only to met with absolute silence. The whole floor was empty, with dead guards strewn everywhere. Cloud rolled one over to find that the head had been brutalized. It had four conical holes indenting it vertically.

Clover looked at it, terrified, but was brought from her trance by Sam's shout of, "WAIT! that was present at the crime scene in our world!"

"wait, you're telling me that this is just like a crime you processed back home?" Cloud asked, curious and worried, though quickly relieved by the fact that these three seemed to know what they were up against.

"Yes!" Sam said eagerly, "These holes were on the head of a receptionist at a big corporation back in our world. If I remember correctly, the victim, Tamara Jones, was racing back to her office building to fetch a report, and instead of finding locked doors, she found open ones. walking in, she asked the receptionist to open the elevator, and when that didn't happen, she went to investigate. She found the receptionist dead, With these exact same holes in her head. She went on to phone the police, and attempted to find her assignment, but was caught by Yuffie, and was assaulted by ALL THREE of your ex-team mates."

Cloud stood, expressionless, taking in this information, then said, "Well, either Vince used his vambrace to do this, or Tifa's here. Get ready, girls, this may very well result in a confrontation." As the three continued on, Cloud stopped abruptly, and began to have one of his trademark headaches. When it receded, Clover asked, "Cloud, are you ok?"

"Yeah," Cloud replied, his eyebrows furrowed and his face carrying a look of dead seriousness, "Stay here. I have a confrontation to deal with." Cloud advanced three steps down the hall, then turned, and saw… nothing. The whole hallway was empty! "Damn those three," Cloud said, "Not listening to orders."

"We don't take orders from anyone, with the exception of Gerry," Alex said, appearing in front of Cloud to earn a reply: "Well, while you are here, please just PRETEND that I AM GERRY. Ok?" Cloud asked, as the other two appeared behind him.

"Just please," he finished, "STAY. HERE. I have to deal with this. Alone." "Cloud, I don't care if you have to go to Timbuktu on your own, the rule that Clover, Alex and I developed goes like this," Sam said, "and I quote: 'No one does anything alone; No one gets left behind.' That has been the rule we have followed since we first joined WOOHP. That's a rule you should adopt, too. No matter what you want us to do, we are going in with you. This requires teamwork, not solo-hero-work. Got it?"

Cloud looked at the outraged red-head, and, deciding she was right, said, "All right. You girls win. But, you're in there as backup in case things between me and-" "Cloud, there is no "ME" anymore, ok? As long as you are in a group or team, there is no "ME". Only "WE", "US", or "TOGETHER, WE". Understand? If a problem arises, we will jump in to help in any way we can think of," Clover interrupted, much to her own happiness, for soon, Cloud smiled, turned, and said, "All right, girls, you win. Permanently. From this day on, NEO AVALANCHE is adopting your rule. Now, follow me. I have a feeling that the room is close."

As they quickly, and quietly, advanced on the room, Cloud had three more headaches, the last one worse than the previous three put together. "Wait," Cloud said, his face turning from confidence to worry, "Something is not right. I shouldn't be having so many headaches so quickly. Either Aeris is near, or Sephiroth is paying a house call."

The girls gasped, and Cloud advanced another step towards the door. As he turned the handle, he warned the girls to be on their guard. He threw the door open, but nothing could prep him for what greeted his eyes: Tifa, the leader of the lesbian squad, was being held by the throat by none other than Sephiroth, while Aeris was huddled a ways away in a corner, and Yuffie lay unconscious on the opposite side of the desk.

"So, you thought you could protect Aeris from me, did you, Tifa Lockheart?" he said in his menacing tone, tightening his grip on her neck. "please…" Tifa spoke through her futile gasps for air, "Please… let me… go… i… don't want to… die… not before i… tell him I'm… sorry… ." Tifa's gasping stopped abruptly, and her body was thrown across the room. As her limp body hit the ground in front of Sam's feet, her anger boiled over, and she rushed headlong at Sephiroth, followed soon after by Clover and Alex.

Clover stood ready, her gloves forming from her hands, Alex's sword flew to her hand, and the blades on Sam's shield clicked into place as they flew straight into Sephiroth, pushing him to the floor from the force of impact. Getting up, he saw them, and his eyes turned from deadly malice to a look of worry.

"Wait… You three again?! NO! I WILL NOT FIGHT YOU!" he shouted, but far too late. For All three were activating their tiny Com-devices and shouting the key words that once again transformed their bodies. Cloud, staring wide-eyed at this, noticed Aeris lying on the ground, ran over, collected her and Yuffie, and began to work on the three as he watched the fight.

Thundaeria charged her katana and fired a lightning blast that mingled into Blazaeria's sword. Blazaeria shot a blast of electrified fire just as Aquaeria fired a round of jagged ice crystals, the three attacks combining to form the ultimate elemental blast. The result critically damaged Sephiroth, who flew back into a wall.

"NO! I DON'T WANT TO FIGHT YOU THREE AGAIN!" Sephiroth wailed (that's right, WAILED) as he sat up and pulled his blade-free sword into hand. Cloud, seeing the Masamune in it's current state, said, "No… way. Those three actually fought Sephiroth, and DESTROYED his sword? That thing isn't supposed to break, EVER!" Sephiroth jumped to his feet and jumped out the window, landing nimbly on his feet and running from the building.

Cloud was still staring when Clover's chest came into view… "Cloud?" She asked, snapping Cloud from his reverie, "Why are you staring at my cleavage?" "wh-wh-WHAT?" Cloud shouted, jumping back in surprise, "IM NOT STARING AT YOUR CHEST! IM NOT! SEE? IM NOT!"

Clover smiled a mischievous smile as she backed away and went over to Tifa. checking for vitals, she turned to Cloud and said, "Cloud, we need to move fast! Her breathing is shallow. If she doesn't get any air soon, she's gonna- crap. It's too late. She's dead." Cloud, his face a mess of emotions, pulled a set of small feathers from his pocket and handed them to Aeris.

"Use these, and do it quick. Me and the team are here to rescue someone else. Come along, girls," he said, walking out; suddenly, a pair of small arms grabbed him around the waist and held him. "PLEASE CLOUD!" Aeris cried, tears falling from her eyes as she held onto his waist, as if for dear life, "PLEASE LET US COME BACK! WE MISS EVERYONE! WE NEED TO BE WITH THE TEAM!"

"I'm sorry, Aeris," Cloud said stoically, removing himself effortlessly from Aeris' grip, "But you, Tifa and Yuffie sealed your fate when you started going lesbo behind my back. And when I said, 'This is the end, you three are evicted from the team permanently,' I meant it. I am not taking you three back. Now, Good day to you." he walked off, leaving the petite brunette sobbing soft tears into the carpet.

LATER, ON THE ELEVATOR,

"Cloud, that was evil of you!" Sam declared, her words bouncing off the head of the spiky-headed blonde in front of her. "Why won't you let them back? They said they are sorry!"

"It doesn't make a difference. Were I to allow them back in, it wouldn't be long before I catch them at it again, and kick them out. It's a vicious cycle that will continue to repeat itself." "Yeah," Alex said, "And it'll keep repeating itself until you realize that not everyone shares your precise views of the world, Cloud! Just because they like," Alex shuddered, "Lesbian sex," Alex shuddered again, "Doesn't mean you have the right to treat them like trash because they don't have your views on standard man-on-woman sex in their mind as much! Maybe they were doing it to prepare for something they ALL wanted to do for you, and you booted them before they could! Maybe all they wanted was for you to-" once again, Alex shuddered, "have a great big 3-1 sex-fest with you!"

Sam and Clover stared dumbly at Alex, astounded that she'd even think those kinds of things. Noticing the disturbed and worried looks her friends were giving her, Alex turned and said, "WHAT?" Cloud, turning to the door, noticed it opening, and looked at the floor register: Floor 61. "Look alive, ladies," he said, readying his Buster Sword for battle, "we've arrived."

"YOU DIDN'T HEAR A FREAKIN WORD I SAID, DID YOU?" Alex shouted, outraged that she'd been so plainly ignored. Sam and Clover had to act as partial restraints to keep Alex from slaughtering Cloud! They continued on their way, making their way through the subsequent floors with the outdated keycards Cloud had kept from his last raid on the building years ago.

"Well, apparently, Rufus doesn't think much for security, since these cards are years outdated!" Cloud said, walking through the door to the floor with the giant layout of Midgar. "Ok, Girls, this is our last opportunity to check our equipment for defects, so get on it. from floor 66 onward, it's nothing but full on combat!" the girls did as they were told, but not one problem was found with any of the equipment. So, they moved on. Floor 63 arrived and nothing happened. floor 64 and still no danger. Floor 65, the storage rooms, popped up, and there was nothing out of place, no blood stains anywhere to show a struggle.

"This is very odd!" Cloud said, before he opened the door to the 66th Floor staircase. They ascended the stairs and arrived in the basement of the lab department. Moving on, Cloud led them to the small, dilapidated freight elevator that took them up to the labs themselves. "Well, girls, here we are. First order of business," Cloud said, "Is to find Hojo II. He's the only one who will open these compartments. Second Order of business, find this guy, in a cry-stasis tube, and free him. Final order of business, Rescue Cid, meet up with Vince and Barret, and book it out of here. Got it?" All three girls nodded. "Good," Cloud said, "You three find Hojo Jr, I'll look for any hidden switches." As they began their separate tasks, Clover took a step… and heard a creak in the floor. Announcing her find, she wound up and gave the area a nice sharp punch with her fist, opening a secret compartment.

Upon pressing a button that appeared, they were met with a startling sight: a young man, in a flame-like suit and tie, wearing a glowing, demon-like pendant, and hair that covered the left side of his face, he was suspended in a tube, with what looked like ice all around him. Cloud, sick of the sight of humans being used in tests, hacked a hole in the tube, and pulled the man out, the ice around him thawing almost instantly. As he thawed, his eyes fluttered open, and seeing the strange blonde boy, he jumped, backing off a safe distance.

"Hey, where am I? The last thing I remember was being injected with sedatives and falling asleep." Cloud, recovering from the shock of what had just happened, said, "Yeah, you were used in some tests by Hojo Jr., who froze you in a tube." The young man, now growlng deeply, threw a hand in the air. Without warning, a sword fashioned on one side like a flame and the other like a flambard, shot from parts unknown into the youth's hands, who held it in an attack stance. "If what you say is true, then I must fight you."

Well, this story is indeed longer than I thought it would be. This and it's counterpart are the longst chapters I have ever written! R&R, flames are welcome.


	16. SS1 C3: WHAT! Soul Cores, Activate!

Oh, man! This chapter is taking much longer to complete than I thought. So far, Cid is in custody, Cloud has revealed some rather interesting information, and has now been challenged by a young man he's just rescued. Go Figure! Anyway, Part 3 of the "Ashe Rescue Saga" is coming to an end. I'd like to thank everyone who reads this and everyone who reviewed this. I am intending to start Naruto/TS, Buso Renkin/TS, FMA/TS and many other TS crossover stories after this is complete. Again, I do not own Final Fantasy 7 and its characters, or Totally Spies and its characters. Square Enix, Sony, and Marathon Entertainment own these characters, respectively. Enjoy!

Part 3: WHAT?!: Soul Core Weapons, Activate!!

Cloud stood, staring at the youth with a look of shock on his face, but quickly regained his calm composure and pulled out his Buster Sword, holding it in front of him.

"Cloud!" Clover shouted, running up and grabbing his shoulder, "Don't do this! You don't need to fight him!"

"Actually," the youth said, flame-like armour forming on his body, "I HAVE TO fight HIM. It's the only way to regain my post."

"What?" Clover blurted, her eyes wide in shock and her mouth hanging open. "What on earth do you mean, You HAVE to fight him? What does fighting Cloud have to do with getting your job back? You're not making any sense!"

"No," the youth said, "You just don't understand me. I am a former member of The Shin-Ra special-Ops unit, "Dark-Ra." I was the best, a real savage. Then I started to see the problem of my ways; I wasn't focusing on my job. I was and would kill everything: men, women, children, dogs, cats, everything. Then, when I heard that the Turks had been defeated, and their posts were open, I jumped at the chance! I wanted to be in the elite group, because the Black Ops aren't really that elite!

"I wanted to be known. I am only known in Shin-Ra as "Demon's Ashe." Then, on the day I was brought in, for my combat auditions, I was ganged upon and knocked out. When I woke up, I was surrounded by some sort of goopy green water, with tubes in my body and an oxygen filter in my mouth. Outside, I could just make out the form of Hojo II. He pressed a button, and the water was filled with liquid sedatives, and I soon was unconscious again. Every time I woke from sedation, it was only long enough to get a glimpse of what was happening, then I'd lose consciousness again.

"Then, the last time I woke up, Hojo II was at gun point by three people, two girls and a man, who were wearing blue suits. I remember thinking, 'What?! The Turks?-' and then everything went blank again. You people know the rest., because you are the ones who woke me up. You opened my tank and let me free. For that I thank you all, but the only way for me to regain my post is to defeat Cloud Strife and bring his body to President Rufus."

Clover looked mortified. Sam And Alex shared the same expression of scared disbelief, while Cloud stood there, completely uncaring about the youth's story. "So," Cloud said, "May I know the name of my next victim? I was going to offer you a job with us, since Rufus appears to have abandoned you. How about we put a place a bet on this little beef of ours?" "That depends," the youth said, looking Cloud in the eyes, "What are the terms?" "Cloud looked at the youth and said, "If I win, you come over to our side, no questions asked. If you win, You can go as far with this "Give-Rufus-My-Prize-For-My-Post" thing as you want. And you still haven't answered my earlier question"

"My name Is Ashe," the boy said, "Ashe Shadow. Your MAKER." "I highly doubt you're my either of my makers," Cloud said, now gaining a look of excitement, "Both mine were burned to death in a village fire seven years ago. I'll never forgive Sephiroth for doing that…" "You knew Sephiroth?" Ashe asked, completely unsure of how to respond. "Yeah, I knew him. I still do. He lives. I was in his squad seven years ago when we went to investigate a report of monster activity near my hometown of Nibelheim. After that, I became a mercenary, taking on any job. I got mixed up with the original members of AVALANCHE, and began working with them to bring down the Shin-Ra.

"Then, When I discovered that Sephiroth was alive, I knew I had to find him and avenge everyone I'd known. When I finally beat him, the Lifestream rose from within the earth to consume him and take him from the planet. Two years later, I was doing a small delivery service, staying out of touch with everyone, when three guys, Kadaj, Yazoo, and Loz, who claimed they were siblings of Sephiroth and me, attacked, and hypnotising numerous children with geostigma.

"Kadaj got hold of the legendary Black Materia, and pushed it into himself, transforming into Sephiroth. After a long, drawn out battle, I defeated Sephiroth, and he reverted to Kadaj. After that, I don't know what happened, but somehow Kadaj and his brothers vanished. We may see them again someday, and I wait for that day with a happy heart and my sword held ready for battle. Now, Where were we?" Cloud said, looking at Ashe, who was standing in place, sleeping in place, leaning on his sword for balance. "HEY! WAKE UP!" Cloud shouted, and Ashe opened his eyes, saying, "I wasn't sleeping. I was pretending it. Now, let's get going."

Cloud told the girls to step back, which they did readily. Then, as he and Ashe circled each other, feeling each other out (Searching for weak points), Clover shouted, "GO CLOUD! YOU CAN BEAT THIS GUY!" Cloud glanced over, just for a second, but it was all the chance Ashe needed. Ashe ran over and slashed upward, only to hit the blunt side of the Buster Sword. "Sorry, Cloud said, "Not even near close enough." Cloud repelled the boy's blade. Then, planting his own in the ground, he propelled himself forward, and landed a torpedo-like blow to Ashe's face.

Ashe felt a sting as the fist slammed into his face with rocket speed, then fell backward with a thud. He opened his blood—covered eyes, to see Cloud standing above him, sword ready to chop downward. Cloud swung, but Ashe dodged in a roll, grabbed his lonely sword and swung before Cloud had anytime to react; Cloud skidded backward, using his sword in his left hand as a brake. Putting his other hand to his face, he saw a small streak of blood leak down his arm.

Cloud smiled, then vanished. 'What is this?', Ashe thought, just as he felt the force of a sword handle smash him in the face. "What's with all the facial attacks, Cloud?" Ashe taunted, sliding back a foot, gingerly smacking his bruised cheek. "I've decided," Ashe said, "To kill you and hang you above my mantle as a trophy when I'm through with you! I don't care anymore. YOU'RE DEAD!" He shouted, and, running headlong at Cloud, attempted to stab Cloud in the stomach. Cloud, however, was faster in speed and in reaction; agily jumping on Ashe's sword to dodge, he delivered his counter-attack: A swift kick… to Ashe's crotch. Doubling over in pain, Ashe screamed in agony, then shouted, "YOU SICK, UNDERHANDED BASTARD!"

Cloud chuckled and said, "Well, Ya know, I always wanted to write a song: 'Ode to the Nut Shot.' But, maybe another day. Right now, it would seem I've won." "NO! You haven't yet!" Ashe said, standing shakily on wobbly legs, "I'm not out yet!" "Oh, I think you are. That attack seriously weakened you. You can't hope to beat me. WHAT?!" Cloud shouted, as he watched something truly frightening. Ashes body started to decompose, and blew away in a small breeze. "Wha-?" Cloud said, before Clover screamed, "CLOUD! BEHIND YOU!" Cloud's eyes shot to the side, just as Ashe's flamberg slashed down at his head.

Ashe's blow landed with a CLANG. 'Damn! He blocked it?!' Ashe thought, but as he opened his eyes, he saw the shield, small blades extending from it's corners. Sam had thrown her shield, the lowest blade extending to for a combination parry/guard. Cloud jumped out of the way just before Ashe's flamberg cracked the surface of Sam's shield, and shattered it. Sam collapsed at the sight of millions of metal shards flying through the air. Then, unexpectedly, the shards flew back together, and began to recombine! Soon, there was no sign that the shield had been destroyed, and it looked more malicious than before: Blades were extending from all sides, and five on each corner.

Then, without warning, it flew back to Sam, who, on reflex, put out her hand. As the shield flew at her, she grabbed the hand strap and spun, holding her new shield in a dangerous pose, as the blades withdrew themselves. Both Cloud and Ashe stared at Sam, who shrugged. Cloud, however, took his chance, and charged at Ashe from the side, swinging upward and Shouting, "CLOUD: LIMIT BREAK: BLADE BEAM!" As he swung upward, he not only managed to slash Ashe's face, but the attack released a giant energy blast that blew Ashe into a wall.

Cloud strolled over to the hole in the wall, and, in a cocky tone, said, "So, you still think you can kill me?" "Actually," spoke Ashe's voice, coupled with the feeling of steel tearing his back, "Yeah, I do! In fact, I just did!" Cloud fell to the ground, his back a bloody mess, rips and tears and sword wounds everywhere. It was as if Ashe had actually been attacking twelve times every second. Sam and Clover ran over to Cloud to help. "Forget him. He's useless. If he's not good enough to spot me through my Darkness Meld technique, he shouldn't be fighting at all. It's just not right, you know."

Clover dashed at Ashe, who blocked, then pushed backwards, and shattered Clover's gloves from her hand. the thousands of tiny pieces flew through the air, then, like those of Sam's shield, came back together and began to reform on Clover's hands. in seconds, Clover had new gloves with spiked knuckles and bladed wrists, fashioned after a dragon. "OH Yeah! Let's rip some faces!" she said, throwing another punch. This one flew straight into Ashe's stomach before he could defend, and blew him back into the hole.

'_What?_' Ashe thought, as he pulled himself out of the hole, only to quickly defend himself from an oncoming attack from Alex and her katana. pushing back, Shadow smirked and destroyed her sword, blowing her backward from the force. The shards of her sword hovered in the air like flower petals, then returned to Alex's hand in the form of a nastier-looking blade: a katana, but which a demonic look. The handle had demon horns that wrapped up around the hand, stopping just above the wrist, like the guard of a rapier. The blade was red and black, and looked to be sectioned. When she swung it, Alex's sword broke apart, and moved like a whip, each section breaking into it's own set of sections, creating a hydra effect.

"WHOA!" Alex said, "After only two swings, I have nine…. Um,… I think I'll call them tails. I've got nine tails on this thing! (NOT INTENDED TO BE A RIP-OFF OF NARUTO'S NINE-TAILED FOX! DEAL WITH IT!)" Alex held he weapon with the handle under her arm, and thrust forward. The 'Tails' flew forward and transformed into flesh-and-blood serpent heads, each one wrapping around Ashe's body and squeezing, then biting. Ashe collapsed from the attack. Slowly trying to get up, he looked at the angry, looming figures of doom above him.

'_What?! their weapons were broken, but repaired themselves, and stronger? HOW GASP! could it be… the legendary Soul Core Weapons?_' Sam's shield extended the blades, which bent forward and fired, trapping Ashe on the ground. Alex slashed the air around Ashe, putting deep cuts in his body. then, As Clover knelt on him, her fists ready to strike, she said, "You may have beaten Cloud. But you won't find us so easy." Clover threw one punch, then continued to smash Ashe's face, while Cloud, who had quickly used a healing potion before the attack, watched, horrified, as the newer, angrier, and deadlier versions of these "anti-kill" girls, viciously blasted Ashe.

"What happened to them?" Cloud asked himself, watching the vicious beating, "what have they become?"

Wow. This story is taking way too long! . and this is the first chapter that I've ever written that's almost 2200 words. OO The first 2000 word-long chapter, that's a full chapter on its own! OOOO A first for me! R&R, next chapter out soon! o


	17. SS1 C4: Nanotech: TURKS NEOS Attack!

Never in my life did I ever think that I'd write a story, and in an equal amount of time I never thought I'd make a side story THIS FREAKING LONG1 Still, Thank you everyone for your support and reviews. As always, I'm accepting flames, anything to make my writing better is an excellent help! And now, with out further chatting, SIDE STORY:Ashe SHADOW RESCUE, part 4! Enjoy!

Part 4: Nanotech: Turks-Neos Attack!!

When the girls finally stopped beating Ashe three hours later, Cloud stepped over to inspect the damage. Not surprisingly, he couldn't recognize Ashe from what he looked like before. His face was beaten so badly that one would think he looked like a splattered animal. "So,Ashe, You see now that you can't beat me? You may be able to temporarily down me, but you can't beat me when I have team mates to back me up in cases like this."

Cloud looked over at the girls. Sam was putting the tiny blades back into her shield, Alex was polishing her sword, and Clover was washing her gloves. Ashe looked up through his bloodied eyes and said, "I can't compete with them on any field. They are just too powerful. I concede. You win." Cloud nodded and said, "Now. you still want to see if you can get you job back?" "Are you serious?" Ashe asked, looking at Cloud with unbelieving eyes, "Are you actually serious? After what just happened, you're going to let me use you as a token to get my job back?" "Not quite, no. GIRLS, COME HERE!" Cloud called; all three grabbed their weapons and went to Cloud's side. Cloud looked at them and said, "Ok, girls, he really wants his job back, so I'm going to ask you to go with me on this, ok? What we're going to do is this: …" Cloud whispered, and everyone listened intently…

HOURS LATER, . . .

The door to Rufus Shin-Ra's office burst open. Into it walked a man the Rufus could swear he'd seen before. "President Rufus?" the man said. "Yes? Who are you?" Rufus asked, getting the response, "I'm Ashe Shadow, Formerly of the Black Ops unit, Black-Ra. I request my job back. I have even brought you the prize you've been yearning for.." Ashe whistled, and Rufus watched as an automoton rolled into the room, dragging the bound bodies of Cloud, Clover, Sam and Alex. "WHAT?" Rufus exploded, getting up from his chair so quickly that he lost balance and fell to the floor with a THUD.

"WHERE-? HOW? HOW DID YOU?!" "It was rather easy, actually," Ashe said, looking at Rufus with gloating eyes, "I ambushed them on the way here and knocked them out. Then I roped them up and brought them here. So, Can I have my job in the Black Ops back?" Rufus stared at Ashe with unbelieving eyes and started to chuckle. Soon, he was laughing hysterically, much to Ashe's surprise. "What's so funny?" Ashe asked. Rufus looked up, his hand over his eyes, and said, "You honestly expect to get your job back? Just for capturing the enemy? I DON'T THINK SO! You quit the Black Ops, remember? You failed to make it into the Turks, so you no longer have a job here. I can start you back off as a secretary, but you'll need a resume!"

For a moment, Ashe stared at the ground in shock, then looked up and said, "You know what? Fk you, and fk you're crap-ass resume! If this is the bull-shit you're gonna pull on me and everyone else, then not only do you not deserve to be president, you don't deserve to clean the dirt under my nails!" Ashe spat at Shin-Ra, who shook his head. "Ah, that's too bad. GUARDS!" Shin-Ra waited for a minute, then two, then three.

"WHERE ARE MY GUARDS?!" he screamed, to which Cloud, easily getting out of his ropes, "We took care of them long before getting here! Killed every single one." Well, You haven't defeated my Neo-Turks, yet." Rufus pressed a button on his desk and yelled, "TURKS-NEOS, ASSEMBLE!" Into the room ran three people, the exact opposite of the originals: there were TWO women and a man. One of the women was very serious, tall, well-built, had long black hair, a scar across the left side of her face. The other had shredded the standard Blue Turks suit to a more manageable (and revealing) size, had short blonde hair, and was built like your garden variety strip club girl. What was disturbing was her face; it was so… immaculate, you'd think she was really an angel! The man, however, was the weirdest of the three. He was a scrawny "computer-nerd" type. He had a full, flowing head of brown hair, and was wearing his suit completely reversed: his pants were inside out, backwards, and on his torso like a shirt, where he'd even tailored a small collar on it. His shirt, collar stitched closed, was the same as his pants, only the shirt was now his pants. Not one of them seemed to be holding a weapon.

"Ok, Ashe, since you wanted your job back, maybe these three will convince you that you really don't! Meet Orikka, Ulrikka, and Musaji," he said, pointing from the first woman to the next and to the man, "TURKS-NEOS,DISPLAY!" Orikka held her hands up, fingers curved upward, and opened her eyes wide. At first, nothing special happened. Then, they began to look scaly, and soon became a solid metallic form: a pair of giant reaper-like scythe blades. Ulrikka did the same, holding her arms out wide. Soon, her hands had become smaller and pointed, her middle fingers becoming he end points of a small dagger and short sword combination. Musaji, however, acted differently. He held his hand out in front of him, and held it in the other. Then, the uexpeted happened: his entire arm turned into a giant automatic mini-gun, with side-mounted laser cannons.

Cloud, Sam, Clover, Alex and Ashe stared, horrified, while Rufus stood in front of his warriors, laughing maniacly. "Now you shall see the true power of nano-weapons technology infused with Mako Energy and human DNA! Sure, it took a lot of money, but it was a success! I'll leave you three to deal with them, I have a dinner to attend." As rufus ran at the window, jumping though it, Cloud ran forward, only to be blocked by Ulrikka. Then, he saw it, the reason Rufus had healed at North Corel: Nano-technology. As soon as his blade pushed down through Ulrikka's tiny dagger, and sliced her down the chest, he saw the injury begin to heal. "Well, Dress me like a slut and call me Mary-Jane!" Cloud said sarcastically, "How do we beat these guys?" This question continued to runrb through Cloud's head as Orikka ran forward in attack.

Holy Crap! this has to be… wait, I already said that! You know where I was just going. Anyway, This has been Part 4 of the ASHE RESCUE SAGA. R&R, flames are welcome!


	18. SS1 C5: CHAOS: Nanotech Breakdown

Geez. Five Chapters… probably going to be more of them… this will inevitably become it's own story! And to think, Nogias' Rescue Saga was one chapter long, and something my brother and I came up with completely at random one night before bed! Odd… Anyway, Part 5 of the ASHE RESCUE SAGA, right now! Enjoy!

PART 5: CHAOS: Nanotech's Weakness!

Cloud sliced through Orikka's flesh over and over again, but to no avail. Clover attempted a fire casting, but it also brought no result. For hours, the mindless slaves of Shin-Ra attacked, and healed every injury inflicted, never showing any emotion, not speaking a word. All they did was hack, slash, shoot and blast. After five hours, Cloud, Sam Clover and Alex were heavily injured. Ashe looked at them, then in front of himself,where Ulrikka was dashing at him Ashe deflected Ulrikka's strikes with his sword and pushed her back. Then, Ashe had an idea. "Cloud," Ashe called over, "step aside! All of you, get out of the way! NOW!" Ashe started to charge magic, only his was two different colors, white and black.

Cloud quickly hustled the girls to the side, and Ashe called out, "King of darkness, rain you unheavenly hatred of peace on this world! Become that which you hate and strike! CHAOS WAVE!" Ashe released his energy, his eyes now flashing black and white, as a giant demonic creature rose from within him and pointed at Ulrikka. As the nanotech girl stood there, devoid of emotion, the attack whipped through her body. Suddenly, on her expressionless face came the look of a woman who'd just been stabbed through the chest: pain, fear and sadness.

As she fell to the ground, Ashe returned to normal and ran over, sword in hand. When her eyes opened again, Ulrikka saw the form of a tall man above her, sword held aloft and ready to kill her. "NO!" she screamed. That's right, she screamed. The emotionless nanotech girl who, like her compatriots, hadn't spoken a word since their arrival, now screamed in pure terror. Ashe looked at Ulrikka, who lay cowering in a ball on the floor, then at Cloud, who shrugged. He sure as hell didn't know what was happening.

Ashe leaned down close to Ulrikka's head and felt for an aura. He found it: an aura not of mindless obedience, but of pure terror and fear. This … thing was now almost scared to death. "Excuse me, miss, are you meaning to tell me that you're honestly afraid of me?" he asked, to which came Ulrikka's reply: "YES! PLEASE DON'T HURT ME!" As Ulrikka continued to cower in fear, Ashe looked at Cloud, who once again shrugged. Then Ashe realized that his Chaos magic had scrambled the Nanotech inside Ulrikka's body, giving her control of herself.

Ashe leant down, and heard something he hadn't heard in years: crying. Ulrikka was actually weeping! Ashe stared at the other two, then had an idea. "Listen, I won't hurt you, ok? Just tell me how to beat your friends over there, and you're free to go. OK? How about it?" Ulrikka looked up, still frightened out of her mind, and said, "Really? You're sure?" "Absolutely. Sure. But first, maybe a little background on yourself, maybe those two?" Ulrikka looked over and said, Oh, they're here too, huh? They are my siblings. My younger brother and twin sister. I'm the older of the two of us, by about one minute."

"If you're the older of the two, why does she look older?" Ashe asked. Ulrikka said, "I don't know, but I am older. We were happy and carefree until we got jobs here at Shin-Ra. Soon, we caught on to what the Pres-man was up to, and when we tried to get out, his men knocked us out. from there I don't remember much, except for the small blurred images I had when I was fighting you guys. But, now that I have my memory back, I should thank you-" Ashe grunted slightly as Ulrikka jumped up and kissed him on the lips. Breaking off, she said, "And there's your show of gratitude!"

She gave a big smile and looked at her brother and sister. "ORIKKA! MUSAJI! Come on, Let's go-" Ulrikka began. She was cut off when Orikka zipped past her, slashing and cutting a large hole in her sister's chest. Ulrikka fell to the ground, a splash of blood hitting the ground beneath her. "ULRIKKA!" Ashe shouted, as he ran forward to catch the fallen girl, only to get attacked himself. Sliding back across the floor with Ulrikka in one arm, his other hand using his sword as a brake, Ashe looked back at Cloud with a bloody eye.

"Cloud, I accept your offer to work with you. I'll take Ulrikka on as my apprentice if you heal her! PLEASE!" Ashe said, his voice faltering. As he collapsed, Cloud pulled a pair of small vials out of his coat, and, uncorking them, threw them at Ashe and Ulrikka. The contents fell through the open necks of the vials, and soon, both were healed. As Ashe stood again, he looked at Cloud and said, "Cloud, I've figured out their weakness: My Chaos Magic scrambles their nanotech circuits, turning them into actual human parts. So, I was thinking to do the same to the other two, and- huh?!"

Ashe was interrupted by Ulrikka, who had a hand in between Cloud and Ashe, who said, "NO. Orikka attacked me. If I can get through to her, and to Musaji, I may be able to snap them out of this. Please, let me do this?" Cloud looked her up and down, and said, "If you succeed, I'm going to make you the Head of Negotiations and Public Service for NEO-AVALANCHE Ok?" Cloud said, to which Ulrikka nodded, smiling. "Alright! It's a deal, Cloud!" Ulrikka said, before creating her sword-and-dagger hands, and walked back over.

"ORIKKA!" shouted Ulrikka, standing in front of Orikka, her hands in weapon form, now purple eyes gaining a small fire of hope, "ORIKKA! WAKE UP! IT'S ME, ULRIKKA, YOUR SISTER! LISTEN TO ME!" Orikka lunged at her sister, creating a small gash in her chest. However, from there, Orikka began acting differently. She'd go berserk and strike, stop, hold her head, scream, and go berserk again. After a half hour, the cycle stopped, with Orikka collapsing to her knees and screaming while holding her head, her eyes wild and aiming skyward. After three seconds, Orikka became still, and her hands fell to her sides, her head dropping to her lap.

Ulrikka slowly moved toward Orikka, and knelt down next to her sister, holding her body, her breathing heavy and labored. "Si-sister." Ulrikka breathed before collapsing from loss of blood. As Orikka raised her head, her solid black eyes, changing to a deep hazel color, looked around at her surroundings, she saw her sister, laying on the floor, eyes closed and body covered in deep wounds and blood. "Wha-ULRIKKA! WHAT HAPPENED?! WHO-!"

Orikka gained a dangerous look in her eyes and, pointing at Ashe, said, "YOU! YOU DID THIS TO MY TWIN SISTER!" "No!" Ashe said, defending himself, " I'm the one that got your sister out of the same nanotech trance that your brother's in!" Orikka looked over at Musaji, whose eyes were still a solid black tone. Getting up, she walked over to Musaji and said, "Hey, Mus! Let's go! We need to get-UNGH!" she grunted, as Musaji punched her in the stomach with the barrel of one of his machine-gun hands. "Mu… Saji… What're you…?"

When she turned around, she found herself looking up the barrel of the same gun hand that just punched her. "Wha-What? Mus? What're you doing?" As Orikka looked up around the barrel of the gun, she could have sworn she saw a tear run down Musaji's eye. "Musaji…" Orikka said, "What's wrong with you?"

Who would have though that Orikka could be so dumb? And just for reference, their names are pronounced Nogias (NO(hard o)-GI(hard i)-a(soft a)s), Ashe (o(soft o)-sh), Orikka (O-reek-kah), Ulrikka (U(hard u)l-reek-kah), and Musaji (MU-sa-jI). There are going to be other self-created characters coming in (eventually), so just ask in a review, and I'll send you the pronounciation in a reply. R&R, flames are always welcome!


	19. SS1 C6: More, More!: Meet PSYONICS!

OK, from here on out, I borrowed some characters from XIONIC MADNESS, a Madness Combat animation, so I hope this doesn't offend people. Geez, I'll be happy when this side-story is done! Part 6, running! Also, starting Next chapter onward, I'll be allowing Nogias and Ashe to do their own pre-chapter commentaries. I hope you enjoy not only their outlooks, but the chapters as well!

PART 6: More, More!:Team PSYONICS and the Offer

As Orikka scurried to her feet, and began to run, she felt a large pain rip through her body. As she looked down, she saw a giant, gory hole in her chest. "mu… sa… ji…" she breathed as she hit the ground.

Without any warning, Musaji began to convulse, and soon, he hit the ground, holding his head. When he lifted his head, he saw his older sisters, on the ground, and bleeding through large injuries. "Orikka? ULRIKKA! WHAT ARE- WHAT HAPPENED- WHY ARE… Oh no, someone did this, and they're here!" he said, pointing at Cloud, who looked at Musaji with an "I SO saw this one coming" look. "YOU! YOU DID THIS!" he shouted, running At Cloud and attempting to grab him by the collar of his shirt, but getting flung back when deflected by Cloud's blade.

"OK, first, kid, look At my sword," Cloud said, lifting his giant blade and stabbing it into the floor, bladed side facing Musaji. "Once you've looked, look at the wounds on your sisters, and then tell me I did this." Musaji looked at the blade, then saw it: the blade itself was thin, while the back-end was wide. It was long, and the end tilted off into a sharper edge. then, first looking at Ulrikka, he saw long, curving cuts that dug deep into the flesh. Looking at Orikka, however, was what convinced him otherwise. Seeing the giant round hole in Orikka's chest, and then the great barrel of his hand, he collapsed, screaming, "NOOO! I DID THIS! IT CAN'T BE!"

Ashe stepped over and said, "Listen, I'm the guy who snapped Ulrikka from her nanotech trance. She then freed Orikka, who, through your entranced violence, was seriously injured to wake you up. PLEASE TELL ME THAT YOU ARE NOT GOING TO LET THEM DIE!" Musaji looked in Ashe's eyes, which radiated heavily with an evil, demented aura. The look Ashe was shooting at Musaji told him one thing: "Fix those girls, or I fix you! PERMANENTLY!" Musaji looked from the death glare Ashe was shooting at him, and then turned back to his injured sisters.

Holding his arms wide, a gentle breeze blew through the room, scattering thousands of tiny blossom-like particles. The particles swept over the girls, and in seconds both sisters were healed. "And now, the three of you are free," Cloud said, "So, what are you going to do? TO experiment on you, Rufus has given up on you. If you have nowhere else to go, I'd like to offer you jobs in AVALANCHE. So, what do you say?" As the three siblings looked from one to the other, then to Cloud, Ulrikka stepped up and said, "I already accepted, so I'm in."

Orikka and Musaji watched Ulrikka cross from their location to next to Cloud and the others. Orikka stepped forward and said, "How sure are you that Rufus has abandoned us?" "Well, judging by the fact that he just dumped you into a fight with us, knowing how strong we were, and the fact that he's already abandoned Ashe here, I'd say your chances are not only -2-1 that he's given up on you, but -4-1 that he's got a set of back-ups that weren't based on human cells, but still nanotech, to use in case you guys fail. And that's a better than perfect chance," Cloud said.

"And that won't be a problem, because I have a spell that'll get rid of them for sure. Not my Chaos spell, though it may help to slow them down," Ashe said, opening the door, "Now, what say we get our lazy butts out of here before he sends those things on us?" Ashe ran out the door. Cloud looked at Sam, Clover and Alex, then to The Nanotech-siblings. He shrugged his shoulders and moved on. The other six followed close behind. Half-way to the elevator, however, they were stopped by Rufus.

"Wait, what's this? My Turks-NEOS failed? Oh well, Maybe these will help! TEAM PSYONICS, ASSEMBLE!" Rufus shouted, soon after joined by five creatures: A giant with an ogre-ish mask and wearing massive body armor; A ninja in medium armor, holding a long, slender katana with several others mounted on his back; A techie with an X-shaped scar on his right eye, wearing thick shades, and tossing small round objects in his hands; A small girl with a pair of deadly looking claws on them, a look of peaceful innocence hiding her true terrible powers; A tall man, cloaked in darkness and floating, his arms and legs wisping into the air, and his eyes red like fire, and his hands filled with some twisting, evil green substance.

"Cloud Strife, Associates of Cloud," Rufus looked at Orikka, Ulrikka, and Musaji, then turned away and said, "Failed subjects,I'd like you all to meet the newest additions to my long family of Nanotech personnel. Please welcome Omega, Xero, Askad, Kary, and XV. Omega here, is our Torture and Destruction Specialist, and deadly with his specially designed firearms." Rufus pointed to the one in red, who was just now reloading his favorite shotgun, the Harbinger. "Xero, here, Is our resident Stealth and Melee expert, and ex-ninja. His specialty is the Chopper, those motorized circular chain-saws you see him with," Rufus continued, pointing to one who was holding several throwing stars that looked like chain-saws.

"Our next is Askad, out Hacking and Demolition expert, as he is the only person here that can get into any computer, ANYWHERE. That means yours, Cloud! His specialty Death Match bombs can get any man killed," Rufus said, pointing to another in yellow clothes and light armor. "Next is our newest creation, Kary, who's sole energy source is a small built-in Mako reactor. Those claws on her hands are her only weapon, and can add to her power, as well as amp up her discharge attacks," Rufus continued, pointing to the small girl in green, whose eyes seemed to hide a secret. "And, finally, XV, here, came to our company from another place entirely, and cast aside his differences with the others to work for me," Rufus said, looking over to the Black and gray man with sinister glowing red eyes, finishing, "He is one of our #1 units, and is tied in power to Omega."

Omega snickered a bit, much to the detest of XV. "HEY, what can I say? " Omega said, looking to XV, "You tried to infect me, I broke free and spread the antidote code to the others. You are a level or two less superior to me!" Omega watched, smirking, as the eerie green substance floating in XV's hands started to form words: "Yeah, and if your friends here hadn't arrived to save you, I would've turned you into one of my pets," the eerie substance spelled. "Now, Gentlemen, Rufus said, "this is no time for arguments. You have a job to do. Those eight there need to be exterminated. Take them, DEAD or ALIVE. Preferably dead, if you don't mind." Rufus left once again, and started down a staircase.

"WAIT! TELL ME WHERE MY FRIEND IS, SHIN-RA!" Cloud shouted, running after Rufus. HE was quickly halted by the sudden appearance of Xero in his path. "Nuh-uh," Xero said in a slightly metallic tone, a touch of "Don't-even-think-about-it" on his voice. "We are your opponents. Though, by my estimation, I think eight-on-five aren't very fair odds. YO, XV, BRING OUT SOME OF YOUR INFECTIONS!" XV acknowledged, and lifted his hands, the green substance twisting and contorting, and soon, three scorpion-like things with long spear-like tails blew into the hallway.

"These," XV said, "Are my pets. Meet my Biologically Infected Overkill Scorpioldiers, or BIOS for short. What do you think, BIOS 1?" XV began to pet one, it's mouth drooling like mad. "BIOS 1 says that it's feeding time. "Go ahead, my pets. FEAST!" XV commanded, sending the creatures at the larger group. The creaturs leapt forth and began to attack Orikka, Ulrikka, and Musaji. Xero said, "Well, now it's you and us. Now, we fight a fair fight. Omega, who're our individual targets? Did Rufus leave us any?" Omega looked at his communicator. "Nope, None," He said, looking up and shaking his head, "in which case, I'll designate the targets. Xero, you take the chick with the blade. Askad, you get the one with the gloves. Kary, you take the one with the sheild, and XV, you take the guy with the weird, fire-like sword. I've got the one with the butcher's knife." As the others separated off, Cloud stared at Omega.

"So you think you can take me, do ya? You better know before you start this… I'm the legend of AVALANCHE, Cloud Strife," Cloud said, staring at Omega with a look of "You-can't-touch-this". "Is that so? Well, I'd heard of you. As I've never actually seen ya before, that's a bonus. I believe it's time for a good gun-fight."

OK, so, yeah, I borrowed Omega, Xero, Askad, Kary, and XV from XIONIC Madness on , for which I have gotten permission from the creator, Xionico.


	20. SS1 C7: FIGHT!: Psyonics vs Intruders

Nogias: Oh YEAH! Here we are, back with more to do-WAIT A MINUTE! WHY DOES ASHE GET MORE TIME THAN ME! HIS STORY IS AIMING FOR BEING OVER 10 CHAPTERS LONG, WHILE I ONLY GOT A MEASLY ONE-SHOT! WHAT'S GOING ON?!

Errolas: Nogias, give it a rest, ok? It's not like it's YOUR entire fault you got a smaller story! I just couldn't think of any other way to comically introduce you! I mean, come on. Ashe was locked away in a bio-tank INSIDE Shin-Ra, while you were set to comically rearrange the buggy!

Ashe: Oh calm down, brother. It's not like I asked for this much attention. I'd much rather be left alone… (Gets attacked by fan-girls) YOU SEE WHAT I MEAN?!

Nogias: AND THEM?! WHAT THE HELL?! YOU'VE GOT FAN-GIRLS? HOW COME I ONLY EVER GET SEXUALLY GAY FAN-BOYS?!

Ashe: Well, not that I'm going to say anything-

Nogias: Yyou're NOT GOING to!

Ashe: Anyway, this is my story, Chapter 7. This is so amazing, My creator's brother is putting more into me than he did Nogias!

Nogias: Yeah, Yeah, Rub it in more, why don't'cha. Yeah, Like he said, Chapter 7 of the "ASHE RESCUE" saga.

Ashe: AWRIGHT! LET'S ROCK!

SIDE STORY 1: ASHE RESCUE SAGA, PART 7: The Battle: Psyonics vs. Intruders

Cloud and Omega pushed away from each other. Staring at each other with looks of distaste and competitiveness, they rushed forward, Cloud swinging his sword, while Trigun raised a weird looking pistol. "What the?" Was all Cloud could say before Beta's metal-coated finger pulled the trigger with a CLICK BANG. Cloud managed to deflect the bullet in time, but not before Omega ran off towards one of the girls. "NO! " Cloud shouted, only to be halted by the long, glowing form of XV's plasma sword. "I don't take orders from You, Omega; I'll attack whoever I want. You face me now, Cloud Strife," he said, before swinging his giant blade down with a CRASH…

MEANWHILE…

Ashe was occupied by Xero. "I also don't take orders from Omega unless it's an official job. So, you think you can beat me? You realize that that weak sword of yours is no match for my Wraith, right?" Xero asked, pulling the empty hilt of his specialty sword from it's sheath, revealing it's lack of a blade. "And honestly, you think you can kill me with THAT?" Ashe asked, shuffling his sword from one hand to the other, "Or didn't you hear? This blade permits my use of forbidden black magic. Such AS-" He shouted, lifting his blade into the air, creating a tower of darkness above his head. "CURSED MAGIC: BLACK TOWER ARCHERS, FORM 3, ATTACK 7: CRYSTAL SHOWER!" A torrent of razor-sharp ice arrows flew through the air toward Xero, who managed to deflect all arrows, except for the one that pierced through his armor, going straight through his shoulder, which repaired itself immediately.

"What?" Ashe said in disbelief, thrusting his blade into the air again. The tower disintegrated and, soon, a great number of horsemen appeared behind Ashe. "CURSED MAGIC: CHAOS BLADESMEN: ATTACK OF KINGS!" He shouted, lowering his sword the aim straight towards Xero, like a general held his sword to indicate a charge. The horsemen charged at Xero, who was blasted backwards as a seemingly endless number of horsemen charged at and through him, as if they were made of air, MULTIPLE TIMES. By the end of the spell, Xero looked like he was a piece of swiss cheese that had been run through a blender.

"How'd you like that, MR. BLENDED DAIRY SOLID?" Ashe taunted, turning around to leave. However, the most horrifying thing happened: Ashe heard Xero cackling in laughter, and, against his better judgement, turned with a look of terror on his face to find Xero's nanotech body healing itself… AGAIN! "HOW?! " Ashe screamed in terrified disbelief, "I WAS SURE THAT WOULD FINISH YOU!" "Yes, well, my body is a little more ADVANCED than you give me credit for," Xero said, swinging his invisible sword at Ashe with a CLANG…

MEANWHILE…

Sam was struggling against Kary. "Come on!" Sam shouted, deflecting talon strike Kary threw at her. "What? ..You want to try my energy attacks?" "'ENERGY ATTACKS?' WHAT ARE YOU?" Sam shouted, swinging the blades of her weapon towards Kary with massive force, only for a blast of energy to blow through it, destroying it. Kary smiled as she lunged once more at Sam, only to hear a CLANG. She looked up and found Sam's shield had changed! It now resembled an angelic water dragon. "You know, your attacks are really starting to ANNOY ME!" Sam shouted, a great orange aura surrounding her body.

"WHAT?!" Kary shouted, charging her energy to counter whatever Sam was throwing at her. Unfortunately, she wasn't prepared for what happened. "LIMIT: BROKEN! ICE AND WATER, CONVERGE ON THE MALICIOUS AND WICKED! ANGEL ICE DRAGON TENDORYU! ARISE AND BAR YOUR FANGS!" Sam shouted, holding her shield in front of her. Suddenly, the aura didn't just surround her, it devoured her. The orange light hid what Happened from the world until a large dragon, white and blue, descended upon Kary. Kary released her energy store and attempted to break through the attack, but failed. She screamed in pure terror as her body collapsed to the ground, devoid of energy, as the giant dragon, revealing fangs of razor-sharp ice descended on her un-moving body…

MEANWHILE…

Alex was facing down against Omega. "So, You ready for a fast-action fire-fight?" Omega taunted, while Alex idly moved her sword from hand to hand, looking him up and down. The armor looked a bit too thick to slice through, so Alex would have to find a weak point and stab. "I bet I know what you're thinking, looking at me like that," Omega said, causing Alex to give him a look of 'Did he already figure out my plan?' "I bet you're thinking about how hot I look!" Omega announced, causing Alex and most other people to crash to the floor. "What does that have to do with it? That's not it at all," Alex replied, honestly wondering WHY ON EARTH an enemy would ask that question.

"Either way, It's time. LET'S GO!" Omega Shouted, pulling out his portable Mini-gun, the Executer, and began firing rounds. Alex once again let the sword do it's thing, and it zipped through the air, chopping each and every bullet into pieces. "What? Your sword did it all for you?" Omega shouted, unloading more rounds, all of which fell, in halves, at Alex's feet. Omega, getting a tad bit angry, pulled out his shotgun, the Closer, and fired, the entire round falling useless in front of Alex. Omega switched his firing mode from "SINGLE 1" to "QUARTER 3", and fired three rounds at once. However, just as before, they were all rendered helpless to Alex's blade. "NOW," Omega shouted, setting his gun to "MAX 12", "I'm PISSED OFF!" Omega began to glow an eerie red color, and shouted, "MAXIMUM BRAWL!"

He fired his gun, and instead of one blast, twelve consecutive blasts fired from his gun, each with the power of twelve cartridges! Alex held the sword ready, waiting for the moment of impact. the first ten were easy enough to block… but the eleventh struck hard, cracking the blade of the katana in Alex's hand. The twelfth blast sealed the Limit, shattering Alex's weapon. "Now that is a fitting end to a weak weapon such as that. Good bye!" he said, walking forward with his pistol pointed at Alex's head. As he fired, A BANG BOOM was heard. Omega flew backwards, holding a stub of what had been his favourite pistol. "NO! THAT PISTOL WAS SPECIAL! NO!!" he shouted, looking at Alex to see her holding what looked like her sword, but wasn't quite. The blade now resembled an earth-bound air-like dragon that didn't seem to be there entirely. It almost resembled the blade of Xero's Wraith. The hilt resembled a fallen earth demon.

Alex looked up, now covered with a great orange glow. Omega realized what happened: Just as he had fired his pistol, she had stabbed her revived sword into the barrel of the gun, causing the gun powder to explode, and hopefully take out Omega and the gun. "LIMIT: BROKEN! REIGN OVER THE TOXIC SKIES, RAIN YOUR VENGEANCE OVER THE DARKNESS AND BRING LIGHT! FLY, EARTHEN SKY DRAGON SAKORYU!" Alex shouted the intense aura engulfing her body. When the light faded, there stood a giant, yellow dragon with three mouths. As Omega began to run, the dragon followed. He pulled out his mini-gun and fired off an entire 2000-round clip at the dragon, which amounted to nothing. Suddenly, Omega fell backwards and landed on his back, scurrying on his hands and knees to avoid the dragon. As it caught up to him, it suddenly split into three dragons and descended upon Omega as he screamed in terror and fear…

MEANWHILE…

Clover worked hard to avoid Askad's attacks. "Give me a break! Quit throwing bombs and grenades and fight me!" she shouted, thoroughly agitated. "As you wish," Askad said, summoning one of his trademark Stake bombs. "What the hell is THAT?!" Clover asked indignantly. "This is one of my specialty Litter Bug Stick Grenades. It looks like an ordinary garbage stake, bit the tip is actually a high-end explosive created by myself. once it's punctured your body, the countdown begins, and you can't escape your imminent demise. Hundreds have fallen to this very weapon, the first few were prototypes. Good practice, those secretaries." "YOU KILLED INNOCENT PEOPLE FOR PRACTICE! YOU'RE EVIL!" 'Well,' Askad thought, 'she does have a point there. maybe on inanimate objects practice would be more beneficial, but on humans, probably not so smart unless I'm in battle.'

"Oh well, the past is the past, and the end of your future is now!" He said, rushing at her with the stick-like grenade, sharp point extended at the end, ready to stab it into her. just as he reached her, he stopped. 'Wait a minute, this isn't right… why am I fighting for a guy who's not even PAYING me?' Askad thought, his mind conflicting between thoughts of 'BLOW HER TO BITS!" and "She's not even important, let her live." Without thinking, Askad's arm shot forward with a SMASH. He looked up and saw thousands of small, fluttering shards of cloth floating through the air. Soon, the shards returned, forming a newer, more deadly pair of gloves that resembled a pair of demonic fire dragons.

Staring at them, Askad slowly rose and began to run from Clover, whos orange glow engulfed her even as she shouted, "LIMIT: BROKEN! DEMON FIRE DRAGON KOMARYU! DESTROYER OF PAIN AND SLAVERY, HEAL THIS LAND AND MAKE IT FREE! CRASH AND BURN THEM ALL TO CINDERS!" The light formed a towering spiral that exploded when a huge dragon, seeming to be forged of hell-fire itself, spread its wings and flew, chasing Askad. He raced down the hall, past the others who all looked after him with faces of "What-the-hell-is-wrong-with-him", only to follow up with looks of "HOLY-SHT!" when the dragon literally blazed past them, chasing him down. Suddenly, Askad Stumbled and cowered in fear, holding his arms in front of his face to guard against the massive, flaming teeth that descended on him…

MEANWHILE…

Orikka, Ulrikka, and Musaji were all faring well against the BIOS that XV had sent after them. Orikka had long since eliminated the one that attacked her, and was helping Ulrikka fend off hers. Musaji was barely having a problem with his, as his giant mini-gun arms pumped round after round of live ammo into his opponent, until it finally collapsed. Giving one last ear-bursting scream, it died. Musaji reverted his hands back to normal form, and bowed, leaving the creature to an honourable death. At that moment, Ulrikka beheaded her attacker and, sighing, walked over to her brother. The three walked down to Cloud, hoping against hope that he still lived…

TO BE CONTINUED… 

Nogias: Whoa. Look at all the cliff-hangers! Errolas, do you need so much suspense?

Errolas: Well, uh, ehehe…. Sweat drop and again, a chapter over 2000 words! I'm amazed that I could write so much!

Ashe: Ah, come on, don't go so hard on him! Here, you can have a few of my fangirls if you like.

Nogias: OH YEAH! THIS IS GOOD AFTER ALL!

Erollas, Nogias, and Ashe: SEE YOU GUYS IN PART 8! DATTEBAYO! GAMBATTE! ARIGATOU! R&R, FLAMES ARE WELCOME!


	21. SS1 C8: The Deal: Psyonics Crosses Over!

Nogias: Ya know, Errolas, I still feel like I should have gotten more air time. I mean, one chapter?

Errolas: Nogias, we've been over this. Ashe is the dark, serious one, so it would have been wrong to make his a comical story. You are the comical guy, so throwing you into a serious setting would have killed your character.

Nogias: WHAT?!

Errolas: Not really, Nogias. It would have killed the idea of you being a comedian. A funny guy that everyone can get a laugh out of.

Nogias: Oh. Wait, WHAT?!

Ashe and Errolas: *sigh* Why even bother?

Ashe: Part 8 of the "ASHE RESCUE" Saga. Enjoy! Oh, and Nogias?

Nogias: Yeah, What?

Ashe: this. *Ashe flicks Nogias on the forehead*

Nogias: GWAFF! OW, DAMMIT THAT HURT, YOU BASTARD!

Ashe: Whatever…

Errolas: ON WITH THE SHOW!

SIDE STORY 1: ASHE RESCUE SAGA, PART 8: The Deal: Psyonics Crosses Over!

________________________________________________________________________

As Musaji and his sisters walked down the hall, they all saw the same thing: Three downed robot humanoids, and a dragon hovering over each, each dragon seeming very familiar. They continued down the hall to see Cloud still battling it out with XV. Cloud lashed upwards with his Buster sword, while XV swung downward with his Judgment Blade. As hot smoking plasma met hyper-toughened steel, XV broke the clash and put his blade away. "Wait, What are you doing?" Cloud asked, as XV sat down. "There's no point in continuing now," XV said, as he pointed down the hall. Cloud looked down the hall, his jaw dropping at what he saw. There, in a heap near the end of the hall, lay Askad, Omega, and Kary, with three dragon roaring over their bodies. Then, unexpectedly, the dragons landed on their hind legs.

Three bursts of light shot upward, and soon, Sam, Alex, and Clover stood next to each other, gasping for air. Cloud and Musaji stared down the hall at the girls, but for a reason that not one of the spies understood. Then, as they looked at each other, they finally understood: Their transformations had completely wrecked their clothes, leaving them in shards and tatters several meters away from the cyborg bodies of their fallen foes. Squealing in shock and embarrassment, they ran to the shattered remains of their clothes and screamed, "DON'T LOOK!" As they scrambled to put on what they could of the cloth shreds, Cloud instantly turned around, trying, and failing, to suppress a monster nosebleed. XV, however, stood watching, fascinated by the actions of the girls. As Sam tried uselessly to get into the ruined remains of her combat armour top, she noticed XV's glowing red eyes… pointing right at HER. "EEEEEEEEEK!" she screamed, trying to cover what she could of her body, while Clover and Alex followed her line of sight straight to XV's, who turned to view them, trying to understand their behaviour. As the other two girls quickly mimicked Sam, their faces turning redder then beets, Xv began to advance on them.

"NO! STAY BACK!" Sam shouted, still trying to cover herself as XV began moving. She quickly finished her request with the threat, "I'LL KNOCK YOU OUT IF YOU KEEP MOVING!" XV laughed loudly, causing all three girls to stop and look at him with confused expressions, each hoping he wasn't about to go where they could tell he was. "How could you possibly knock ME out? You are merely Human females, and are therefore weak!" he said as he continued to laugh, oblivious to the three immense death glares stabbing through his robotic frame. "WHAT DID YOU SAY?!" all three girls shouted, exploding with rage at having just been branded with a classic, though incorrect stereotype. Instantaneously, and in unison, the three flew at XV, shouting angrily as they got near. Still laughing madly, XV felt, but didn't see the fist, foot, and forehead that collided with his lower pain centre, stomach, and face as the three enraged females took aim and attacked. Flying backwards, XV righted himself in mid-air, touching a large dent in his head. "You three will pay for…" he stopped, looking over at the large metallic shape that was, in fact, his body. Not surprisingly, Clover had been the last to make contact with her massive head-butt, and had actually loosened several key connections in XV's head, severing it from his body. XV watched, horrified, as his body began to twist, contort, and flail about, trying it's hardest to find him, only to fall to pieces.

"NO! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!" XV screamed, trying his hardest to get back to his almost destroyed body. Sam picked up the small severed head and, with an air of anger and pain in her voice, said, "PROVING A POINT, YOU JERK! GIRLS ARE NOT WEAK!" Sam the proceeded to slam XV's head into the ground like a foot-ball player performing a touchdown. A robotic shriek of "NO!" erupted from XV's head not only as he hit the ground, but again as Alex punted him to clover, who performed a dead-on spike to send his head plummeting through several floors. As if expected, a metallic groan emanated from hole beneath, as well as several shocked voices asking if Meteor had struck, only to be followed by a much louder sound: XV shouting. The only sound heard for several, seemingly endless, seconds was that of XV shouting "OW." Cloud, from his position, called over to the girls, saying, "I'll go and recover him, you just stay here and see if you can get dressed, ok? PLEASE DON'T KILL ME!" he yelled as he dashed off, hitting the stairs quickly. In the couple minutes that it took for Cloud to return with XV's damaged metal cranium, the girls had managed to piece their tattered clothes together in a way that nearly covered the more important parts of their bodies, though the ripped shards of cloth seemed to be giving them no end of troubled to keep on.

"Don't worry, Cloud," Sam said, Turning after a quick, light dusting off, "We aren't going to kill you. You didn't label us under a ridiculously untrue stereotype. You're safe." Cloud breathed a sigh of relief, knowing he wouldn't get his skull ripped in half by angry teen girls… today, at least. XV attempted to struggle, but soon became quite still. "What is it that you people want?" he said, his voice now sounding slightly feminine. Cloud looked at XV's head with a smirk and said, "Well, we were hoping we could do the same for you guys that we did earlier for the sibling warriors, and offer you and the others jobs with AVALANCHE. For the sole reason of vengeance." "XV's face looked stoic and robotic as he said, "Why? Why would you face us under circumstances like this, when we weren't even your enemy, and… offer us work upon defeat?" "Shin-Ra has used you. Shin-Ra has, in a way, used us all. At AVALANCHE, we believe that everyone is equal, and that you should treat others as you'd want to be treated. His army killed my best friend many years ago, and I keep his memory alive in me with his sword. Now, I think it's time hey reaped what they've sown. What say you?" Cloud responded, holding out a hand, only to return to the reality that involved a severed robot head sitting in his hand. "Oh… Uh… Yeah. Sorry," Cloud said, putting his free hand behind his head. "No, that's fine. I'm quite taken by what you said. Alright, I'm in. But, you'll have to fix up the other four before you can get a definite answer," XV said, with a slight hint of humour in his words that made cloud begin to chuckle. "At least I've learned something today," XV said, "DON'T UNDERESTIMATE YOUR OPPONENT." The three girls looked at him and smiled, happy that he finally understood.

~SEVERAL MINUTES LATER…~

Cloud, the girls, the Nanotech siblings, and the fully restored newcomers descended down the stairs, sending bullets every which way and bodies flying in all directions. As they hit the ground floor, they could see Barret and Vincent ascending from the basement floors with a slightly banged up Cid in tow, Barret clearing the way as Vince aided Cid up the stairs. By the looks of them, there had been one HELL of a battle, and they'd ONLY JUST made it through. As they all converged on the front door, Cloud looked over at the main reception desk, only to see no one. "Omega, Do me a favour?" Cloud asked, to receive a nod from the red cyborg. "Go over to the main reception counter, and look for a female receptionist named Harriet. If you find her, collect her and say today's the day for leaving. If not, look around for any notes from her." Omega nodded in understanding and dashed off to the desk in search of his target. "I REPEAT, COLLECT, NOT KILL!" Cloud and the others dashed for the door, running straight for the buggy as Omega chased after them, Harriet the receptionist slung over his shoulder. As they climbed into the buggy, Cid reached into his shirt and pulled out a small device. "Heh. THOSE LOSERS FORGOT TO CHECK ME FOR WEAPONS! LOSERS! BAM!" he shouted as he pushed the little button. As the buggy moved away, a large explosion rocked the Shin-Ra building. Everyone cheered as the building dropped down several floors.

~SEVERAL HOURS LATER…~

Once they arrived back in North Corel, Ashe looked around. "Strange… I would have thought my brother would be here… waiting to ambush me in a surprise drop kick greeting… YARGH!" He shouted as he rolled out of the way of an attack that didn't come. "Brother?" Cloud asked, looking over at Cait Sith for more info; all he got was a pair of confused expressions and two pairs of shrugging shoulders accompanied by one annoying southern voice saying, "No one said anything about THAT!" Ashe looked from one face to another… "He's not here? He should have been in the Shin-Ra basements… Wait… did they move him? Where would they move him to?" Cloud stood in thought before coming to a realization: "Maybe the hidden treasure of Shin-Ra Manor… Is your brother!"

___SIDE STORY COMPLETE___

Ashe: So, Nogias, happy now? My story is finally over after eight massive, gruelling, painful instalments, while you got one crappy, insane little one-shot!

Nogias: SHUT UP, LOSER! At least I didn't get addicted to Mako Meth while in that box! I was clean, man!

Ashe: HEY! THAT'S NOT AN ADDICTION! I CAN QUIT WHENEVER I WANT! It's just… not that easy… *pulls out a bucket of Mako pills from his back-pants pocket, and downs the whole bucket in one gulp*

Nogias: And they call me "SLIGHTLY OFF-KEY". Feh, I'm so sure!

Ashe: HEY! SHUT IT! At least I am out of pills now!!! *pulls out another bucket from the adjacent pocket, and attempts to swallow the whole thing*

Nogias: *Gives Ashe a big grin* Yeah. I'm the weird one.

Ashe: *with his mouth full* WHAT? STHUT UFF! I CAN GETH THEETHE DOWN, JUTHT WATCH MEH! *tries to swallow, but starts coughing them out in bursts* NO! MY BABIES!

Nogias: Yeah. I can SO SEE that I'm strange. YOU'RE CALLING METH PILLS YOUR CHILDREN! *bursts into hysterical laughter*

Errolas: Well, with this massive brawl over, I announce that the next storyline chapter will be up shortly! Sorry for the wait, mental block. Damn, lousy mental block!

Errolas, Nogias and Ashe: *Ashe still has his mouth full* (TH)SEE YA LAT(H)ER! R&R! FLAMES(THS) ARE WELCOME!


	22. Walking Shadows: Dark and Angry!

The next day, Reno awoke to find Cloud personally tending to his wounds

Well, here it is! Chapter 12! Hope you enjoyed the little cliff-hanger! WARNING! MAJOR PERVINESS IN THIS CHAPTER!

Chapter 14: Walking Shadows: Dark and Angry!

The next day, Reno awoke to find Cloud personally tending to his wounds. "HEY!" Reno said, "What in the hell do you think you're doing?" Cloud looked up for a second, a worried expression on his face. "You missed a spot on my back, could you please dress it?" Cloud rolled his eyes and continued working as Reno and Rude enjoyed a silent laugh. Elena called over, "Hey, Reno, have some decency! The guys helping you get better. You thank him, not get a cheap laugh at his expense!" "Yeah, you're right, Elena," Reno said, looking from her bed back to Cloud, "I'm sorry, Cloud, for poking fun. And thank you."

Cloud smiled slightly, and said, "Well, It's the least I can do for the ex-Turks that killed my temporary hometown. And by the way, Reno, you did a good job. You managed to work your way into my "good books" for that." "No," Reno Said, causing Cloud to look down with a confused expression, "I mean thanks for dressing that wound. I feel hundreds of time better, despite the pain everywhere else." He laughed hysterically; Rude, however, was the one to speak up this time. "Reno, it was funny the first time. The second time made me realize that Elena is right. You should only thank Cloud, not make it a way to poke fun at him." Reno once more became quiet. Cloud got up from his seat, and Reno said, "Hey, where are you going?"

"I'm stretching my legs. I've been sitting in one place for six hours fixing you up. You were the closest, so I took to working on you first. And now I'm done, if that's ok with you, Reno," Cloud said sarcastically. "Oh. Ok," Reno answered quietly. Cloud moved on to Rude, and spent another six hours working on him, all the while trying to work up a conversation with the reserved man. After that, he moved on to Elena, and pulled back the covers. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" Elena screamed, reaching down past her mangled chest to pull the sheet back up. "Elena, I got permission from the doctor to dress your wounds. And, he told me there was a way to remove the shrapnel from your body without surgery," Cloud replied, to which Elena responded, "Really? How are you going to do it?"

Cloud moved his head closer to hers, and just before their lips touched, he stopped and said, "I need that sheet down, and you to stay perfectly still and quiet. I'm going to pull out what I can, and what I can't, I'll magnetize from you. OK?" "Fine," Elena said, then as Cloud reached for the sheet, she finished, "Pervert." "I'm doing this not to peep on you," Cloud said, "But so that you three can be at your best in a few days when we hold the induction ceremony, naming you and the three girls that beat your ex-boss as permanent members of NEO AVALANCHE." "You mean to say," said Reno, "That regardless of what we've done to you guys in the past, you're going to hook us up with jobs in your group now that we aren't Turks anymore?" "Well, Rufus said he was replacing you guys, so, Why not give you some incentive to get revenge!" Cloud replied. "Hmmm. Revenge, you say?" Rude said, finally speaking after six hours of maintaining constant silence.

He continued, "I could go for some of that. But, Reno, you know what this means?" Reno looked over and said, "No, what does it mean?" "It means," Rude stated, "That the three of us are going to need to train more. Rufus will only hire people better than we were, so he'll probably have them hunt us down and eliminate us." Reno, shocked by this news, looked at Elena, who appeared just as shocked as he had been. In the time it took for Cloud to successfully pull each piece of shrapnel from her body, Elena would call him a pervert, and he'd say calmly that, "no", he wasn't, most of the time with a huge grin. When he could pull nothing else from her, he looked at her, and said, "Now get ready, Elena. This is going to hurt like hell." She nodded, and watched as he pulled out a small rod and a coil of copper wire, wrapped the rod with the wire, and, starting at the top of her head, passed the newly made electromagnet over her body. Every time he reached a piece of metal, it would tear through her flesh, and fly out of her body, causing her to scream a horrible, blood-curdling scream. By the time Cloud finished, Elena looked much worse than she had before; her body was covered with open holes where the metal had shot from within her flesh, and her face told the whole story.

Her eyes were wide and almost glazed over, and she was gritting her teeth and groaning horribly to ignore the pain. "In the next few days, with regular visits from the doctors and med mages, you should be fine," he said, getting up from his stool. In addition to pulling the metal from her body, he had taken another six hours to fully dress her wounds. Pulling the covers back over her shaking, trembling body, he slowly started leaving the room. "Hey, Cloud?" Elena called; Cloud turned and looked at her, then said, "Yeah? Something I can get you?" Elena looked at him, and said, "No. I just wanted to say… Thank you for spending so much time of your busy day to sit here and help the doctors fix us up. Myself most of all. I didn't really want to go into surgery for all that shrapnel. It would have taken them much longer than you did, so… again, thanks."

Cloud simply nodded and said, "You're welcome. And thank you, Elena." "Huh?" Elena said, sounding confused, "What for? I didn't do anything." "That's exactly it. You didn't do anything but lay there and look pretty. Damn freaking hot, if you permit me to say." And with that, Cloud left Elena to think. As he left the room, he heard her yell, "HA! I KNEW IT! YOU WERE CHECKING ME OUT! PERVERT!" He yelled back, "NO, I WASN'T, IT WAS A FRIENDLY OBSERVATION!" Next morning, Reno awoke to see Rude throwing punches at the air. "So, hard at work are we?" "Wouldn't you like to be, Reno?" Elena called from the other end of the room. Reno turned to see her usually flawless face covered in small scars and slow-healing holes. "Ouch, Elena, what happened to you? It looks like someone took a handful of needles to random parts of your face. Acupuncture gone wrong, ya know?" Reno said, as he put on a robe and started joining Rude.

"DAMN," Elena said, "I wish I hadn't done that stupid grenade thing. I bet they took all my grenades." Reno said, "Well, I know I don't have a rod anymore. That chick sliced it in half." "And they confiscated all my explosives by now," Elena said, sitting up in bed, "I can't wait to be out of this hospital bed. It's so boring! There is nothing to do. I just want to get up and stand again." "Well, Elena, you won't be standing again for several days, so just stay down and rest," Reno said, standing Net to Rude and following his routine. In a few days, Reno had permission to be training outside, using large poles made of tree branches, and Rude was still in their hospital room, training like mad. A few days later, Cloud Returned once more to the room to check on the three ex-Turks. "Well, guys, I have good news, bad news, and worse news. Which do you want first?" "Give us the good news first," Rude said, betraying his usually quiet personality.

"Well, The good news is actually for Elena. You should be able to walk now, so go ahead and try whenever you like. Now, the bad news, with a bit of good news. Cait Sith got in touch with Reeve, and it seems that the Shin-Ra finished their search for your replacements days ago. The later-than-late old man Shin-Ra's personal guard made it into the cut, as did a rather worthy candidate. Both have exceptional magical and physical abilities, … and both were tossed to Hojo. Apparently, they weren't quite what they were looking for." "HAHAHA! So much for that. Which of the old man's personal guards was canned?" Reno asked, just now getting up and slipping on his new clothes.

"Nogias Frazar, The Secret Guard Service to The President," Cloud replied, and Reno laughed again. "No wonder they sent him to Hojo! That Nogias guy has major behavioural problems. One minute he's calm and collected, the next he's wildly bouncing off the walls. No one could keep him in check, so they gave him the job of Presidential Secret Guard. He did well for a time. Up until the old fart died, that is. Then they put him back in the Turks under the Special Task Operations sector. They must have thought him a good addition until they remembered how wild he gets, then sent him off to see if Hojo could calm him down with testing and drugs. Wait, didn't you guys kill Hojo?" "Well," Cloud said, "We did, but the Shin-Ra inducted his son mere hours after we left to deal with Sephiroth at the North Cave. Anyway, while you and Rude were busy getting permission to train and Elena was resting up, the rest of the team and I went over to the Shin-Ra building to find him. He wasn't there, but we got information from his son, Hojo II, as to his location, and we gained a new team mate in the process. His name is Ashe Shadow." "ASHE IS ALIVE?!" Elena shouted from her bed, jumping to her feet and rushing to grab Cloud by the throat. "You had better not induct him into this group, or I will quit of my own accord. That guy tried to hit on me, and I shot him for it. He deserved it; he was touching me where I didn't want him to, and he even stole a kiss. It was a really long, drawn out kiss. It was one I didn't even want."

"So, personal reasons, huh? Well, maybe you should talk to him, and get him to understand why you shot him, because he says he's got a bone to pick with you. Says he's going to kill you for shooting him. Also says that Hojo II was the one who saved him. He's got this thing around his neck that won't come off… says it carries a curse, or something…" Elena let go of Cloud, and said, "Well, maybe I did over-react a little." "A LITTLE?!" Reno shouted, laughing harder than he had before, "A little is punching him in the face, the stomach or giving him some sort of testicular injury. You way over-reacted. I mean, I've had women run up and kiss me on the lips without reason before, but I never shot them for it. Man, you've got a lot to answer for."

Suddenly, the door blew open, and there at the door a tall man wielding a slightly odd looking sword, and sporting attire that would have made Ifrit envious. His hair was black with red tone at the bottom, and hung over his right eye like a veil. he had a large cloak on, and his shirt was half buttoned, showing quite a deal of chest. his pants went all the way down into his boots, which seemed to be on fire, not just styled like a flame. his gloves looked ragged and torn, and a small pendant hung from his neck, which shined an eerie blackish-purple color. Every second, he looked slightly worse than before. That's when it hit Elena: the pendant was constantly draining the man's health. "Ah, Ashe. You're just in time to-" Was all Cloud had time to say before Ashe pushed him from his path and stepped up to grab Elena by the throat. "So, you violent little bitch, you ARE still dealing out your wrath on others. That's why I liked you, but you shot me. WHY DID YOU DO THAT?! I was just trying to be friendly!" he shouted, as Cloud, Reno and Rude slowly backed their way to the door and stepped out.

"Ashe, I'll leave this to you, K? You two can talk for a while." Cloud closed the door, now almost off its hinges, behind him, and left Elena and Ashe to talk. "Why did you do it?" Ashe asked, earning Elena's reply, "I didn't know how to react. I hadn't asked you to kiss me, and I hadn't asked you almost go all the way with me. You came a little too close to doing that for my liking, so I reacted the only way I could think of: get you off by killing you so it wouldn't ever happen again. Apparently, it didn't work. Now… can you let… me go… can't… breathe…" "I'll say it didn't," Ashe said, releasing Elena from his hold and letting her get some air, before continuing. "Well, I didn't understand back then, but I do now. I guess I should have asked before advancing so fast, huh?" he said, scratching the back of his head. "Um, yeah, ya should have. But, you didn't and I over-reacted. A lot. Sorry for shooting you, Ashe," Elena said.

"Hey, it was my fault entirely. If I hadn't advanced so quickly, you wouldn't have shot me, right? I will take full blame," Ashe replied. They looked at each other for a second, then Ashe said, "Well, I guess I'd best get going. A villager asked me to help get his cat from his well. See ya later, Elena." Ashe opened the door, walked through, and closed it. It promptly fell over, and Ashe just blindly continued walking. Elena chuckled, then started laughing. Ashe quickly came back to the doorway and said, "Hey, Elena, can I ask you something?" "Sure, what is it?" Elena replied, waiting for a response. Ashe walked over to Elena and kissed her on the lips for a split second, walked over to the door and turned, looked her up and down and said, "Answer me this. Why…" Elena stood still, and listened as Ashe continued, "… Are you completely naked?" Elena got extremely tense, looked down at herself, and realized that she was indeed totally nude. She squeaked and attempted to cover herself with her hands, shouting "PERVERT!" as Ashe contently walked down the hall, laughing to himself.

Just so you guys know, Nogias Frazar and Ashe Ashe are RPCs made by my brother and I. His is Ashe. Hope this didn't throw you off! R&R, flames are accepted!


	23. SS2: Aerodynamics: FIND NOGIAS!

OK, once more, we're turning away from the main story for now. We are going to the day that Cloud took his team and went to the burned down mansion to find Nogias. Enjoy!

Side-Story 2 – Aerodynamics: Search is Over!

Cloud had left the fallen Turks in hospital for the day to go on one of two special missions: re-invade the Shin-Ra building to search for people willing to defect to his team, and search the Shin-Ra Mansion for Nogias. The mansion mission seemed substantially easier, so he opted for that mission first. Collecting Vince, Red XIII, and Cait Sith, he got into the buggy and drove in the direction of the mansion. Upon Arrival, Cloud warned them, "Ok, guys, make sure to keep your guard up. We don't know if guarded is guarded as well as Vince's basement key was, so we need to exercise extreme caution." As he signalled them into the building, they were instantly thrust into battle. The Goofy Faces had a hard time of trying to curse and confuse any one of them, because Cloud's entire group was equipped with special Ribbons. As they proceeded through the creatures and made their way to the west wing of the building, he motioned them into the far-most bedroom, and through the hidden door to the spiral staircase that led to the basement. They proceeded to the basement room, where Cloud said, "Ok, Vince, you go right, ill go left. You two retards stay here and guard the entrance." Red XIII remained as stoic as he had been in the many years he'd been with the group, while Cait Sith erupted into a raging fury. "WHAT THE HEYELL DO YA MEAN, RETARD? I WORK THE HAHDEST O THE LOT O YUZ!" he screamed, getting the following response, not of Cloud, but of Vince, "No, you sit around on your stuffed mog body and shout orders at the rest of us, you ungrateful cat." Cait Sith just turned and began muttering to himself, as Cloud and Vince resumed searching the room. As Vince continued searching through the walls, where he did find a small stash of materia and weapons, Cloud searched the coffins. As he opened one after the other, he came across one that was… different from the others. Different in that it carried the Shin-Ra Corp crest and had a label: "WARNING: DO NOT OPEN!" Cloud, thinking it was a Shin-Ra Mega Weapon, said, "HEY! VINCE! COME HERE!" Vince flew over, landing next to Cloud, who pointed to the crest and label. "Well, it's either something of extreme value, a weapon of some sort, or someone like me." Cloud, not waiting to find out, took his sword from its sheath, and pried open the top of the coffin, revealing a young man, not riches or weapons. "Hey… Are you-" Cloud began, before the lid flew into the air and landed square in it's place. Cloud, now annoyed, pried the lid open again, and attempted to awaken the youth within. "HEY! WAKE UP!" he screamed, causing the young man inside to jump ten feet into the air. "Jeebus! Can you possibly not do that? I'm trying to get some rest!" He pulled the lid back on, and resumed his sleep. Cloud, now vastly irritated, stood back and swung down, releasing one of his trademark Blade Beam Limit attacks, decimating the defenseless coffin in one blow. The young man stood, quickly zoomed around the area, and in seconds, he had repaired the coffin. "LEAVE ME ALONE!" he screamed, as he slammed the lid of the coffin down so hard that the whole thing collapsed around him. "Whoops. Guess I really don't know my own strength!" he said, chuckling nervously. Cloud stood, towering above him, and said, "Are you interested in telling us WHY IN THE HELL you are trying to sleep in a coffin?" The young man stood up, and, dashing across the room in a mere two seconds, had gone from "white T-shirt and shorts" attire to a full outfit. The first thing Cloud noticed was the person's hair. His hair was wild and shooting everywhere, pulled back into multiple samurai-styled ponytails. The rest of his hair was styled upward into a multi-layered array of rows and columns of spiked hair, each spike a different shade of gold or yellow. "I'm sleeping in a coffin because the Shin-Ra decided I wasn't worth my post, and shipped me out here. They packaged me like sardines, with packing corn for company, brought me here, and left me here." The guy's clothing surprised Cloud as much as his story did. He had a long black nose-high cloak on, that very closely resembled Vince's. His shirt was unbuttoned on the top three buttons, and his jacket was left open and flowing in the slight under-ground breeze. his pants were torn in places, and reached all the way into his long, knee-length boots, each of which looked like a hooked flame. The cloak barely hid the silhouette of a small blade handle. 'Oh, well now,' Cloud thought, 'Another swordsman like myself. this should prove some rather interesting competition.' Cloud simply stood still, and said, "Would you be interested in helping us beat the Shin-Ra? It's good to have all the help we can get. What's your name, by the way?" The young man stared at Cloud for a second, then replied, "In order of asking: 1) Why not? It'll give me a chance to find out why they roped me up and dumped me here in this coffin. 2) I agree. After all, there is strength in numbers. And 3) My name is Nogias Frazar. I am Shadow Blaze's brother. now, what are your names? it's only fair, right?" Cloud marvelled at the young man's orderliness and sense of honor. Especially his Orderliness, considering the fact of Nogias' hair standing and jutting out to multiple directions. "I am Cloud Strife, and this here is Vincent Valentine-" "Though I prefer to be called Vince," Vince interrupted. Cloud, now rather angry, quickly regained his composure as he said, "And those two rejects in the back of us are Red XIII and Cait Sith, the last part pronounced like the letter "c". He has a thing about that. He'll smash you if you get it wrong." "DAMN RIGHT AND I'LL CLOBBER YA IF YA MAKE FUN OF MEH! Hey, wait A MINUTE!" Cait Sith shouted, hearing the exchange. Red XIII had to grab Cait Sith from the mog and carry him away to keep him from doing some rather evil things to Cloud. As Cloud shook Nogias' hand and turned to leave, he felt a large gust of wind rush past him, followed by many construction sounds. Cloud motioned to Vince and said, "Vince, go check it out. find out what that racket is!" Mere seconds after Vince flew off, he shouted, "CLOUD! YOU MAY WANT TO COME AND SEE THE BUGGY!" As Cloud ran up the stairs and towards the door, he called back, "WHY? IS IT DESTROYED?" "NO!" Vince called back, to which came Cloud's next question: "WAS IT VANDALIZED?" "YOU COULD SAY THAT!" Vince replied, and when Cloud arrived at the main entrance, he saw why. "WHAT THE? THE BUGGY HAS NOGIAS' HAIRSTYLE ON IT?!" Cloud was right! the buggy had been reconstructed to carry a giant replica of Nogias' hair. "Yep! Say 'hello' to the 'Let's-Get-Us-Some-Ass-Mobile'!" Nogias said, admiring his handiwork, while Vince and Cloud looked in with expressions of shock and confusion. Nogias cheered from behind the buggy, "This baby is now capable of super-hyper-turbo-NOS speed!" "How?" Cloud asked, staring dumbly at the Buggy. "Well, I reconstructed your car to carry a NOS engine under the hood. that, plus the aerodynamic modifications I made to the rear will make this baby jet at four times it's original speed capability, and just by tapping the little button I have in my-" Nogias said, trailing as he accidentally pushed the small button in his pocket. The buggy roared to life, and instantly shot off into the distance. "-pocket? Whoopsie! I didn't mean that!" Nogias said nervously, scratching his head. "BRING THAT BUGGY BACK NOW!" Cloud roared, easily scaring the pants off of Vince, who had never seen Cloud this mad. "Ummm… that's… actually… not very possible. Until the NOS engine runs out of fuel, that thing's just gonna keep on going! Your best bet would be to chase it." And so they did, bolting after the buggy as best as they could. Just as it reached the edge of the ocean, it stopped and turned, then revved and shot forward. Cloud and Vince barely had time to jump to safety before the NOS-hungry buggy ran them down. Slowly getting to his feet, Cloud shouted, "HOW IN THE HELL DO WE STOP THIS THING?!" Nogias, thinking quickly, charged and cast earth magic, creating a wall that encapsulated the buggy, allowing it to harmlessly burn off the remaining NOS fuel before dying to a gentle purr and turning off. Cloud inspected the machine thoroughly, and, finding nothing wrong, nodded his head and chopped the massive hairstyle off the buggy. He then proceeded to hack and smash the disembodied hairpiece into atoms. "NO!!" Nogias screamed, picking up the pieces of the vehicle's fallen mark of Nogias power, and said, "Why did you do that? It was better with hair!" Walking off, Cloud halted in place and said, with exasperation and anger in his voice, "WHAT IN THE HELL DO YOU MEAN?! IT MAKES THE DRIVER AND IT'S PASSENGERS LOOK LIKE FREAKS!" "Actually," Nogias said, getting up and walking to Cloud, "The people around here know me quite well. they know me as "The Shifty One". If Rufus comes around and confiscates something, I sneak it away from him, and bring it back. If it's food and water or a sick family member or what not, they can count on me to get it back to them, no matter what." He thrust his thumb and two front fingers, sideways, to the center of his forehead, and said, "I am Nogias Frazar, The Shift Thief! Protector of the weak and defenseless, and Back-Stealer of precious objects and people. Shin-Ra won't know what hit him!" Suddenly, he felt a crisp smack against the back of his head, and with a yelp of "OUCH!", turned to see Cloud walking to the buggy. "Come on, get in, both of you! The hideout isn't gonna wait forever, ya know." As Nogias and Vince climbed in, Cloud closed the doors and started the buggy. Only thing was, it didn't start. "Hmmm… Must have exhausted ALL of the fuel." Nogias once again laughed nervously, as Cloud looked at Vince and nodded, motioning towards Nogias. "Hey, wait a second, what are you-ARGH!" Nogias was booted harshly from the buggy, which immediately started up, roared like a lion, and sped off into the distance. "HEY! COME BACK!" Nogias shouted, chasing the car, "IS THIS ANY WAY TO TREAT A NEW MEMBER?" He continued to shout and scream as the buggy rode off into the sunrise.

---MEANWHILE…---

Cait Sith looked over at Red XIII, who was standing guard diligently. "Hey, Red," Cait Sith said, looking at the fire-tailed cat in interest, "Where do you think we're gonna find the treasure?"

---Meanwhile…---

Cloud looked at Vince, then back through the rear window at the tiring Nogias, and stopped the buggy. As Nogias got in, he said, "Hey, don't you guys feel like we're forgetting something?" the three looked at each other with a frightened expression, then emphatically said, "NAH!" and continued to ride home.

well there you have it. the catastrophic events leading up to and though the Nogias rescue…

I hope that you thoroughly enjoyed yourselves as you read this chapter. R&R, flames are always welcome and accepted.


	24. Wild ‘n’ Crazy: Nogias, Show Them All!

So, yeah. Last chapter, you got a taste of what Shadow is like. Now, you'll get a shot of Nogias. Hope adding RPCs isn't a turn-off!

Chapter 15: Wild 'n' Crazy: Nogias, Show Them All!

Once Shadow had left and Elena had managed to wrap her bed sheet around herself like a toga, Cloud, Reno and Rude stepped back inside, and Cloud continued the tale. "So, like I was saying, we got Shadow to join with us. We also got info on where to find Nogias. It seemed that the only other time that the basement room of the Shin-Ra Mansion had been opened, other than when I did it, Was when Hojo II had gone there, heavily sedated Nogias and sealed him in the rearmost coffin. So, When I went back there with Vince, we were both surprised to find a youth in there. Since you guys know him so well, maybe a reunion is in order." He walked to the door and called, NOGIAS! COM'ERE!" A slow rumbling sound filled the air, and soon, another tall fellow walked through the door, his steel-plated boots cracking the floor with every step. His long cloak almost covered the hilt of a sword; Reno saw this and thought, He actually looked for these guys because they have swords?! This guy is a blade freak!" The youth had long, spiky hair that was tied off in multiple samurai-style tails. His cloak looked a lot like Vince's, and his heavy suit and armour were buttoned right to the top, adding to the weight of his body. "Yeah, Cloud? What's up?" he said, looking directly at Cloud. "Well, Nogias, these are the people you would have been replacing. Meet Elena, Reno, and Rude. Though I didn't exactly introduce them by level of importance…" Cloud said, causing an indignant reaction from Elena: "HEY!!? WHAT IN THE HELL DOES THAT MEAN?!?!" She shouted, while thrashing around, bound in Rude's strong arms. Nogias slowly approached Reno, and looked him in the eyes. He suddenly snapped back, however, as he nearly fell on his back laughing. He regained his quiet composure, looked back at Reno and said, "So, Reno, You got fired, did you? Not a very smart idea, huh? I missed the memo on what you did to get fired, what was it again? Shot a dignitary from a foreign land, or permanently incapacitated a high-level voter that could have kept Rufus as leader? Too protective of your ex-boss, were we?" Reno simply stood there, expressionless, and looked straight at Nogias for a moment. Rude, Elena and Cloud were dumbfounded at the complete intensity of the stare, which Reno broke by lowering his gaze to the floor and muttering, "I failed to incapacitate a threat on the President's life. She's 16 years of age, wields a katana that, from what I hear, can capture a lightning bolt and enable a special attack, not to mention it can split grenades without exploding them. That sword of hers actually sliced my nightstick in half." "WHOA, WHOA, WHOA. Rufus fired you because you couldn't exterminate a GIRL?! Hasn't the guy ever thought of MARRIAGE?! With his level of power, he could just marry her, and then kill her off himself, making it look like an accident. I mean, he runs Midgar. The police wouldn't investigate him, he scares the living shit out of them. Hell, he scares the shit out of me. That is saying something. But, when I got back, they locked me up in that casket and shipped me off. Made sure I took in enough CO to kill me. They apparently didn't think much first. I can take the stuff in and look dead, but in fact be exhaling the carbon, and keeping the oxygen for myself! My lungs are special, don't ya know," Nogias said, the rest of the room fell silent and shocked at what he had just stated. "What?" he asked, "It's true." Cloud just looked at him, then turned and left, saying, "I'll leave you three to chat. See ya later, Nogias." As he left, Nogias turned to the other two and said, "So, the Mighty Reno fell. How did the Amazing Rude and the Invincible Elena get beaten?" Rude looked him straight in the eye, and, letting go of Elena, said, "I was ordered to finish the same girl Reno lost to. In all my years, I was never beat once by Elena. This girl and her friends far out rank Elena in strength, power and technique-" "HEY!" Elena shouted, clearly outraged. Waiting for Elena to finish, which she didn't, Rude continued. "-As I was saying, This girl, Alex, I think it was, has browned skin and short black hair, down to her ears. I attacked her with a lightning spell, and when I turned to leave, she just looked so… I don't know, happy. Her katana no longer had a black blade, but a gold-coloured one. she jumped in the air, and released this giant mass of electrified needles on me, ripping me to shreds. After that, I barely had a second of good sight left, and quickly knocked out. Well, actually, I saw what happened to Elena, but it would do you better to hear it from her, not me. After all," he concluded, looking straight at Elena, "You are the one who experienced it, not me." "Oh thanks, Rude," Elena said sarcastically, "My hero, as always. Leaving me to relive my painful defeat." She turned to face Nogias, and began, "Like Rude, I was ordered to finish off that… rather talented girl. I started off by pulling a number of mini grenades out of my pockets, and pulling the pins. I began throwing them at high speed, but no matter how many went at her, she skilfully chopped each one in half. The three last ones were special: they were my special-hand-made KO grenades, each of which had enough sedative mist to down an elephant. she managed to somehow deflect all three of them back at me, each landing in a different place. One landed under my legs, one went between the buttons of my top, nestling right between my boobs, and the last landed square in my mouth. I remember turning to Rufus, looking scared and shedding one single tear, then feeling the immense pain of having two grenades explode right on me. at the time the under-leg one blew, I know that I felt pieces of metal fly into me, and then, it all went black. I don't remember anything else, aside from waking up in that infernal hospital bed, feeling like the lowest of the low. My mouth hurt like hell. My chest when I looked at it and touched it, looked like a pair of coiled bacon strips glued to where my boobs should have been. And I won't even grace you with the detail of how much pain my lower extremities were in." "So," Nogias said, "It sounds like you three deeply respect this girl. Want me to ask how she did all that?" "Yeah, you can do that," Reno said, "Right after you ask the Midgar Zolom what it likes for dinner: Human aLa King, or Cream of Human Soup! We all now how she beat us! We slacked off on our training, and became confident on our powers and weapons to see us through, not our own personal skills! We slacked off, and we paid for it! Now, leave us alone, you loon!" Nogias looked from Reno, hyperventilating and nearly foaming at the mouth, to Rude, who appeared confused and shrugged his shoulders. He then looked at Elena, who looked just as confused as Rude. Nogias simply shrugged it off, and said, "Well, I was just asking. No need to get defensive about it. I'll see you three later, gotta help one of the coal miners get his mechanic hoe back to working order." As he left the room, he looked back at the three Ex-Turks, and saw the looks of confusion and fright on their faces. "A MACHINE THAT LOOKS LIKE A BACK-HOE, BUT OPERATES FROM THE FRONT. NOT A MECHANICAL HUMAN THAT YOU RAPE UNTIL YOUR SORE! GOD, IT'S LIKE YOUR PARENTS CONTRIBUTED NOTHING TO YOUR BRAIN DEVELOPMENT." As he stormed from the room, Reno turned to Rude and just looked at him for a minute, expecting a response. Rude simply shook his head and shrugged his shoulders. Elena did the same when Reno turned his gaze on her. They were still there, looking stunned, when Cloud returned, saying, "Hey guys, What's Nogias so mad about? He was raving on and on about what a "mechanical hoe" is." The three just looked at the floor in silence, until Cloud said, "You three had best be ready. The ceremony is tomorrow, and you still have to get some clothes! By the way, as new members of NEO AVALANCHE, I'll have to give you a little spending money." With that, he tossed each of them a small bag. As each caught one their bag, they looked inside. "WHOA!" Reno exploded, "30000 GIL! WE NEVER EVEN GOT THAT MUCH FOR A MONTHLY PAY CHECK WORKING FOR SHIN-RA!" "Yeah, Barret wasn't exactly keen on letting all that money leave the treasury, but he knew I had to. I was going to give you guys, Nogias, Shadow, and the three new girls each 60000 gil each, but that would have left us broke, so I cut back to save enough for weapons for you guys. Name your weapon of choice, and I'll see if we can get the weapon-smiths going on it. The weapons are on us, since we don't have to use too much. They will be top quality, though, so don't worry about shoddy equipment falling apart on you. In each of your bags is a piece of paper. Write your choice on there, and give it back to me when you get back from shopping. OK?" Cloud said as he left the three of them to discuss what to do.

Well, I hope you enjoyed this chapter as much as my brother did. He was laughing so hard, he almost died! IM GOOD! R&R, and flames are welcome.


	25. The Question: Cloud Breaks Down!

Well, I hope you peeps liked the last chapter. Enjoy Chapter 16!

Chapter 16: The Question: Cloud Breaks Down!

Later that day, Cloud got a knock on his tent post, and into it walked three people Cloud had never seen before: Two men, one bald and one with wild multi-coloured hair, and a girl with blonde hair down to her shoulders.

"So, what do you think?" the girl asked; Cloud, bewildered at the sudden appearance of these strangers, asked, "Um, yeah, you look nice."

"SEE?" She said, ecstatic, "I TOLD YOU HE'D RECOGNIZE US!" "That's just the thing, actually," Cloud said, as the girl leaned in closer and said, "So? Who am I?" Cloud thought it over for a moment. He then said, "Sorry, I really haven't ever seen you three before. You all look familiar, but I could swear I've never seen anyone of you before."

The girl was now shocked beyond reproach, and was quickly pushed aside by one of the men, who had a wild head of multi-toned hair: the bangs were yellow, the base color was orange, the front row of spikes was red, and the back was white. His streaks, however, should have been a dead give away; they were red.

"Come on, Cloud," he said, pulling the girl back over and unzipping the back of her shirt, then moving her to show Cloud: her stomach and chest were covered in scars. "Wait," Cloud said, as his eyes touched each scar separately, and continued, "Elena, is that you?"

"YES! You finally guessed!" Elena cheered, jumping up and down on the spot. "Well, I guess it's true what they say. Clothes do make the man. Or as the case may be, the woman." Elena simply stood there, looking happier than she had in the years she had spent hunting Cloud.

"So," Cloud said, looking from the bald man to the one with the wild hair, "Rude and Reno, right?" Rude simply nodded, speaking for both. "So, Reno, what possessed you to go and dye your hair so many colors?" Cloud asked, to which the new Reno said, "Well, I thought that if those new Turks Rufus is hiring are supposed to hunt us down, how are they to do that without knowing what we look like? I mean, would Rufus actually tell them to go and look for three people in blue suits, one bald, one with shoulder length blonde hair, and one with a head that looks like a flame? That wouldn't make a lot of sense. He would have told them that we'd be smart enough to cover our-"

"Actually, he did say that. That last part, with the blue suits," Cloud interrupted. Reno's mouth hung open dumbly as he finished, "-Tracks." Elena piped up, "Does it really matter? We look different now. The only way they'd recognize us is by our skills and abilities. This means we're going to need new weapons." "Yeah, that reminds me," Cloud said, "What about those weapon slips I gave you? Did you decide on a weapon of choice yet?"

Reno snapped from his stupor, and handed over his slip, as did Rude. Elena came up last, and as Cloud took her slip, he read: "OK, so Reno wants a new electro-nightstick, with telescopic extensions on both sides that snap together and make a stable, safe, and all-in one bow staff. Ok! That can be done. Rude, you asked for… New gloves… Wow. That's high tech, you can get those anywhere!"

"You didn't read the extra bit, the description," Rude said indignantly, using all the strength he had not to whip around and punch Cloud in the face. "Oh," Cloud said, reading further, "With wrist blades that extend from above the hand as short swords, and underneath as tonifers, both for close-quarters combat. The gloves have to be able to lock in an elemental attack for easy attack-backfiring. All right! I'll get the request out now." cloud stopped, put both previous slips behind the last one, and said, "And Elena wants … me to teach her how to use a sword?! And then to have one like mine?" Elena stood there, smiling and nodding her head, oblivious to Reno's shocked expression. "ELENA?! WHAT ARE YOU, MAD?! YOU WANT TO BE USING A BIG, BULKY, BAD-ASS SWORD LIKE CLOUD'S?!" Elena looked stunned; her head fell into a depressed, "staring-at-the-ground" pose. Reno walked in closer and, lifting her head to look at him, he said, "Why didn't you think of that sooner? It's going to be cool to have a female Cloud on the team."

She perked up immediately, and smiled a gigantic grin. "All you're missing is the spiky hair!" Reno finished, causing Rude to laughed heartily as he said, "Yeah. Wouldn't that be weird, eh Cloud? Dress her up exactly like you, and trot her out into battle? TWO CLOUDS, one with breasts and one without! It's the perfect couple!" Rude continued to laugh as Elena began punching him.

"Reno, you really have a way with the women, don't you?" Cloud said; Reno replied, "What do you mean?" "What I mean is, you know how to make a woman cry, and you know how to make her happy again AFTER you've made her cry. You are one twisted person," Cloud said, causing Rude to laugh hysterically.

"Ok, you guys get ready. You got yourselves something nice for the ceremony tomorrow night?" "YEP!" Reno replied enthusiastically. "All right then," Cloud said, getting up from his desk, and moving to Reno. "Before the ceremony, You will each have to pass a test. Reno, you are first. Follow me."

Reno, now completely confused, looked at Rude, who shrugged, then to Elena, who shook her head in an "I don't know!" way, and then followed Cloud outside, followed closely by Rude and Elena. Cloud led the three to a small arena, in which were Sam, Clover, and Alex. "WAIT A MINUTE!" Reno shouted, spinning Cloud around, "ARE YOU TELLING ME YOU'RE GONNA MAKE US FIGHT THE CHICKS THAT BEAT OUR BOSS?!"

Cloud shook his head, then put his hand on Reno's shoulder and said, "No, I'm not that nuts," then stopped as Reno started smiling and laughing. "You'll be attempting to outwit me in combat," Cloud continued, causing Reno's smile to fade and his happy laughter to die. "Outwit… YOU?! How am I supposed to do that?"

"Well, actually, you already completed that one. You made yourself so unrecognizable that I almost thought you were from Wutai! In fact, all three of you passed. Now, for challenge number two of three." Reno, who had started cheering loudly, and once more became sullen and quiet.

"Now," Cloud said, "You must get past me in mental combat." "MENTAL COMBAT?! WHAT IS THAT?!" Reno screamed, indignantly. "Simple. Think of something I can't figure out, or something I'm bound to be unable to answer, and you pass," Cloud said, leading Reno down into the arena, from which Sam, Clover, and Alex were just finishing up some light training.

As they left, they smiled and waved at Cloud, who returned the gestures and brought Reno to the center of the arena. "OK, so," Cloud began, before being cut off by Reno, who said, "Alright Cloud, let's see you solve this. I pose a conundrum, a riddle if you will." "Alright, shoot. Let's hear it," cloud said, as Reno continued.

"It cannot be seen, cannot be felt, cannot be heard, cannot be smelt. It lies in rivers and behind hills and empty holes it fills. It comes first, follows after, ends life, and it kills laughter." Cloud stared at Reno, amazed that someone who seemed so light-headed could, in fact, possess the brain power to create an incredibly deep riddle from scratch. As Cloud struggled to deduce the answer, Reno stood back and said, "What's wrong, Cloud? Is your generous mind hurting too much to think straight? Well?"

Cloud continued to struggle. For five minutes, he looked ripe to blow, but eventually said, "Okay, I give, Reno. What's the answer?" Reno, now sitting on the ground and fiddling with his clothes, stood up and said, "Well Cloud, I thought you'd be able to guess. The answer is: DARKNESS. You can't perceive it with your senses, it is everywhere where light can't tread. It's there when we're born, and when we die, and it's not funny when someone turns off the lights on you at night, right?" Cloud, finally getting the riddle, slapped his head, and said, "Geez!! Why couldn't I figure that out?! That was easy! And yet, so hard… Okay, Rude, you're next."

As Reno strolled off to stand next to Elena, Rude jumped from his place straight down in front of Cloud. Rude then said, "This one is a math question, Cloud." "Oh, Goddess, no! Okay, Rude, let me here it. Math was never my strong subject." Rude said, "If it takes a dragon twelve years to lay ten eggs, and the babies take another twelve years to mature, how long will it take for twelve dragons to fully raise 120 new dragons, while creating another 120?"

Once more, Cloud sat in deep thought, seemingly stumped by this question. Several occasions appeared where Cloud would perk up with a possible answer, causing Rude to sweat profusely. These were concluded each time when Cloud would lower back into thought with a plain "no, no, that's not it…," causing Rude to sigh in relief.

Finally, Cloud said, "Rude, I give up. What is the answer?" "The answer," Rude replied, "Is twenty-four. Since it takes one dragon twelve years to lay the eggs, and another twelve to raise the babies, the answer is a simple addition of both the numbers. Twelve plus twelve is twenty-four, therefore, it takes twelve dragons twenty-four years to fully raise 120 babies into full grown dragons, while laying 120 brand new eggs."

Cloud once more slapped his head, and, realizing that every answer he would have given would have been wrong, said, "Good job, Rude, you made my head hurt. You pass. Send Elena down, would ya?" Rude smiled, and jumping back up in an easy leap, said, "Head down, Elena." Elena was already more than halfway down when she heard this, and chose, wisely, to ignore it. When she reached Cloud, before he could say anything, she said, "Alright, Cloud, I've always wanted to know. Who do you love more: Tifa, or Aeris? Wait, I should rephrase. Who DID you love more?"

Cloud, stunned at being asked this, lowered his gaze, and didn't answer… for a time. After waiting for a half hour, Elena was getting impatient. "DAMN IT, CLOUD! ANSWER ME!" When Cloud looked up, Elena could see tears welling in his eyes. "WHY DID I KICK THEM FROM THE TEAM?! WHY DID I HAVE TO BE SUCH AN IDIOT?!" he screamed, then collapsed to his knees and began crying, despite his tough façade.

Elena dropped down next to him, and pulled him in close to her, attempting to comfort him. Meanwhile, Reno was having a small conversation with Rude when his eyes inadvertently trailed down to the arena, where he saw Elena holding Cloud.

"OHO! What's this?" he said, before breaking out in hysteric laughter. Rude stopped talking, turned to look, and also began laughing. Elena, hearing this, shouted up, "SHUT THE HELL UP, YOU ASSHOLES!" KNOCK IT OFF, OR I'll SEND THE BOTH OF YOU INTO NEXT THURSDAY! I ASKED A QUESTION THAT WAS A LITTLE TOO PERSONAL, OK? HE NEEDS TO GET IT OFF HIS CHEST, SO SHUT UP AND LEAVE HIM ALONE!"

Reno and Rude immediately quieted down, and continued their conversation, as if nothing had happened. Down below, Cloud looked up at Elena, and asked, "Why did I have to be such an idiot? Why did I have to kick them off the team? All three of them. I miss them so much. They're all so distant from me now."

Elena, seeing his problem, said, "Why don't you apologize, and tell them that you accept their ways, and were wrong to act so harshly? You don't need to sugar-coat it, but just tell them you were an idiot. Because, you know," She said, looking at him kindly, "You'd seem a lot more masculine that way. Girls like men who admit to their faults. You admit to this one, and you won't have to worry. Just make sure you don't do it again, and you'll be fine!"

Cloud looked at her again and said, "Really? It's that easy?" "Yeah!" Elena said, helping him to his feet, "In fact, why not test it now?" "How?" Cloud asked, to which Elena said, "Um, hello? You call them, Cloud!"

This took me slightly longer to think up. I hope I did a good enough job, though. R&R, flames are always welcome.


	26. SURPRISE!: The Grand Reunion!

Nogias: Well, with the "Rescue Ashe" saga officially complete, I announce that there is going to be only ONE, spell it out, O-N-E more side story that will be added. After that, it will be nothing but storyline.

Ashe: You're really relieved that I'm out of the limelight now, aren't you Nogias?

Nogias: ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! I'VE BEEN WISHING FOR THIS FOR EONS!

Errolas: … Maybe we should just put him to sleep for a while. *pulls out a tranquilizer* Nogi, come here…

Nogias: HELL NO! LAST TIME YOU HIT ME WITH ONE OF THOSE, THE DOSE WAS FOR A MALE AFRICAN ELEPHANT!

Errolas: Don't worry, I've reduced the dosage! It's only strong enough to down a male Siberian Tiger now!

Nogias: YOU ARE A CRUEL MAN! YOU JERK!

Ashe: TRANQ HIM! TRANQ HIM! TRANQ HIM!Nogias: SHUT UP, MAKO ADDICT!

Ashe: *looks back and forth* I didn't hear that. *Downs a pail of Mako pills*

Nogias: And I'm the wei-AUGH! What the- whoa… I'm feeling … tired… Errolas, you… Ass…*hit's the ground hard*

Errolas: At least he'll be out for a while. As a warning folks, this chapter and all others from here are going to contain EXTREMELY OOC Sephiroth appearances. Extremely as in … Well, you'll see.

Errolas & Ashe: Welcome to chapter 17, folks!

Nogias: *mumbling* no mommy… five more minutes… please, no… not the frilly dress…

Errolas: *stares with bug eyes and gaping mouth* Oh… My… SHINBONES.

Ashe: *slaps head* Not again…

Errolas: He was a sad, strange, troubled lad.

________________________________________________________________

Chapter 17: SURPRISE! The Grand Reunion!

_________________________________________

Cloud looked at Elena with an alarmed expression. "ARE YOU INSANE?! I can't do that after what I did to them! I mean, I screamed and forcefully KICKED them out of the base camp! I can't possibly… I just … Maybe, but… NO, I can-" Cloud was cut off when Elena delivered the awakening blow: A sharp slap to the face. While for Cloud it was a snap back to the reality he'd been running from, for Elena it was a means to silencing a VERY loud man. With the volume he was "Talking" at, she wouldn't have been surprised if dead people in WUTAI had risen from their graves and gone deaf! Gingerly touching the slapped half of his face, Cloud looked around, then back at Elena. "Thanks. I needed that. I know what I have to do now." Cloud got up and, as he walked towards the arena steps, he said, "Congrats! The Turks are now members of AVALANCHE. If you'll excuse me, I have some work to attend to." He ascended the stairs and waved Barret over, whispering something to him. Barret closed his eyes and smiled, then patted Cloud on the back. From what Reno could read of Barret's lips from the distance, Barret was saying, "Good luck." Reno looked at Rude and shrugged, saying, "What would Cloud need luck for?" Rude shrugged, having no better idea than Reno.

~-INSIDE…-~

Alone in his tent, Cloud moved to his computer. Sliding the tower aside, he pressed a little button hidden in the desk that activated the shrouding of the inside of the tent in a shimmering, multi-colored cloth. "Well," he smirked, "I wonder how this new secret power of ours will work? Since that last raid on the Shin-Ra Slums, I've been interested in finding out how this "Crack-Shot Wall" cloth works."

~-OUTSIDE…-~

Reno approached the tent, saying, "HEY CLOUD! I just wanted to say-" Reno stopped as his hand touched the cloth. Suddenly, his hands were replaced by rainbow-colored squirrels, and everyone changed into talking animals. The horizon was changed, turning into images of electric eels playing with animated rainbows. As Reno's eyes registered pixies, unicorns, and fairies, Reno sighed deeply, feeling truly relaxed and free.

~-INSIDE…-~

Cloud looked at the cloth, then up at the ceiling, and then shrugged. Cloud smiled, then said, "Ah, whatever it does, it's gotta be good!"

~-OUTSIDE…-~

Rude walked by Reno, who, in his own world, was watching his squirrel hands phase back and forth through each other like light through glass. "Uh… Reno? You OK?" Rude asked, before Reno's eyes, now with blood-shot, rainbow pupils, met his through Rude's ever present shades. 'DU~~~DE! I HAVE GHOSTLY SQUIRREL HANDS! WAIT! DU~~DE! THEY JUST TURNED INTO CHIMPS, MAN! I HAVE RAINBOW CHIMPS FOR HANDS! DU~~~DE!" Reno stumbled away, picking up a couple of spiked spheres and rubbing them against his face. 'BOOBIES!" Reno shouted, scaring away the women around him. Rude, now concerned, approached Cloud's tent to inquire…

~-INSIDE…-~

Cloud sat down at his desk and turned on his computer. As the screen loaded, he connected his phone to the internet hook-up, glancing from the phone to the computer, then to a small picture of him with Tifa, Aeris, and Yuffie that he had asked Barret to take for him. "Am I really ready to do this?" Cloud asked himself out loud, before putting on a determined face and dialing Tifa's number. "Ok, Cloud, you can do this, you can do this. YOU CAN DO-" Cloud began saying before Barret's booming voice rang through the cloth of his tent: "HEY CLOUD! GETCHYO SPIKY ASS OUT HERE! YOU GOT SOMEONE HERE TO SEE YA! Says his name is… Tack, or… Mack, or… Jack… or something…" Barret trailed. Cloud's eyes shot open and he dashed from his desk, deactivating the wall as he went. Just as he left, Tifa appeared onscreen "Hello? Cloud? Cloud? CLOUD! AW, FUCK!" She shouted. Soon, a crashing sound coming from her end, and the screen flicked off.

~-OUTSIDE-~

Outside, Cloud was met by a surprising, but terrifying sight: his best friend from years in the past, who had DIED in his arms, WAS BACK IN THE LIVING WORLD WITHOUT A SCRATCH! "Z-Za-Zack? W-What are…? H-how are you… h-How did you… HOW ARE YOU BACK?!" Cloud stammered out, While Zack smiled wide and said, "Calm down, Cloud! It's great to see you too! How long's it been?" Cloud attempted the math on his fingers, then said, "It's been four-and-a-half years since you were last alive, Zack. But how are you back?" "Zack closed his eyes, then turned around to face the other three people that Cloud had completely missed: Zack's mentor, Angeal Hewley; Zack's old nemesis, Genesis Rhapsodos; Cloud's number one enemy, Sephiroth? "What? SEPHIROTH?!" Cloud shouted, pulling the Buster Sword from its place on his back, readying himself for combat. "Cloud, wait!" Zack implored, standing between the two. "Sephiroth is here to say something!" Zack stepped away for Sephiroth to move forward. Sephiroth stared long and hard at Cloud, who returned the stare with one of vengeful intensity. Sephiroth closed his eyes … and bowed low, almost touching his nose to his boots. "CLOUD, I'M SORRY!" Sephiroth shouted, keeping his eyes far out of Cloud's eyeshot. "I realize what I did was wrong… I'm sorry I killed everyone you ever cared about! I'm sorry I killed Aeris. I'm Sorry for EVERYTHING!! I'M SO SORRY!" For a split second, Cloud could have sworn he saw a tear fall from Sephiroth's eye… Suddenly, Reno and Rude shot by, completely devoid of clothing. "DUDE!" Reno shouted, getting an instant reply from Rude. "DUDE, I KNOW! AWESOME!" Rude shouted, as he watched his root turn into an eel. "DUDE…" Reno said again. Cloud stared into blank space for a second, before"That still doesn't explain how you got back, though, Zack! When I left you on that cliff, you were covered in gunshot wounds, bleeding everywhere, barely had the energy to move! How can you possibly be…?" Zack smiled. "Man, that story has to be one of the longest I'll ever tell. It happened something like this…." Zack trailed off, remembering vaguely how he managed to return to this world…

**________________TO BE CONTINUED…______________**

Errolas: Heh… CLIFFHANGER! AGAIN! I LOVE WRITING THESE!

Ashe: At least Nogi's not calling me a Mako addict. *swallows a Mako pill*

Errolas: You really should join an MA group, Ashe. That Mako Addiction variant you have is sure to hurt you eventually…

Ashe: Aw, hell, how bad can it b-*Wretch* *Throws up*

Errolas: Uh huh… nice one… Real Splendid.

Ashe: *between gags* Shut… UP! DAMN YOU!

Errolas: Alright, Side Story time again! Number three, once again a one-shot, so get ready. Meanwhile, next chapter will take a while to make, so please be patient. R&R, CONSTRUCTIVE FLAMES ALLOWED!


	27. End Game: Returning Home!

Hey everyone. Sorry about being away from this so long. IN my time away, I've gotten JUST a bit better. So, I'll try and spice this up for you and make this one HOPEFULLY the last chapter. ^_^ However, as for the future of "Konohagakure Strikers", I'm kind of lost on how to keep going. I lost the draft a long time ago and haven't been able to find it. So, once more, I apologize deeply for my absence from this fic and hope to make up for it with this, hopefully the last chapter. ^_^ Enjoy!

_**Chapter FINAL: ENDGAME: Returning Home!**_

_**-OP: "HIKARI NO ROKKU~ROCK OF LIGHT" – Sambomaster-**_

Clover sat under a lone tree, thinking.

"Man, who knew so much could happen in so little time..." she mused.

It had been three weeks.

Cloud had introduced Zack to the rest of the group, while Zack had introduced his two friends; his mentor Angeal Hewley, and his now reformed nemesis, Genesis Rhapsodos. Cloud and Zack had left to catch up, during which time Tifa, Aerith, and Yuffie had shown up to talk with him of their own accord. Of course, believing Cloud had hung up on her just to be a jerk, she'd attacked him full force to get her anger out. She'd only stopped when she saw Reno and assumed a defensive stance. Cloud had then stood, surprisingly looking no worse for wear, and explained that Rufus had fired the Turks. Cloud had also gone through the rounds of introducing everyone, from the Turks NEOS to the WOOHP girls to Ashe and Nogias.

Cloud had apologized profusely for what he'd done, and long before Tifa said anything, Aerith and Yuffie had run over and hugged him, proclaiming their forgiveness. Tifa had sat there, staring at him with a dark expression on her face. She'd eventually taken a deep sigh of relief and stepped over to hug Cloud as well. Like Aerith and Yuffie, both of whom had started crying moments after telling Cloud they forgave him, she told him all was water under the bridge and cried into his shoulder, barely able to say more than "It's g-great to b-be h-home..."

Later, after several sessions to see how much the girls in question had improved, Cloud pitted them against Sam, Clover, and Alex; Sam vs. Yuffie, Tifa vs. Clover, and Alex vs. Aerith. When Alex complained that she didn't want to scar Aerith with her sword, Cloud simply smiled and said not to underestimate the team's best staff-wielder. The girls went to work, and soon they all found how evenly matched they were.

It was only a couple seconds in, but Clover and Tifa were exchanging blows at quite a clip, each managing to get a powerful blow in on the other and JUST dodge away... into a counter blow. The two were far too evenly matched; their match would end in a stalemate, or Tifa, with more experience, would walk away the victor.

Alex, on the other hand, was learning exactly how right Cloud had been about Aerith; this girl was about as good, if not two times better, with her staff then Alex was with her sword. After the fifth time she felt the flat end on Aerith's rod plunge against her stomach and force her to the ground, Alex had purposefully lost count. Reno, on the other hand, kept a running tab and counted out loud, as if to goad Alex to do better.

Sam, on the other hand, had it the seemingly easiest of the three: For her, her shield had blades, so it was a game of throw, dodge, catch, and repeat. She had managed to JUST BARELY escape decapitation several times and hadn't even been nicked; Yuffie, however, had managed to dodge wrong three times so far and had suffered a small gash in her left side, a mid-sized slash in her right shoulder, and a large, gaping lapse of flesh on the insides of both shins. She was about to stand and throw when Sam strolled over and idly flicked her on the head. Yuffie's legs buckled, and she went down like a rock. Sam called for a stretcher, and Yuffie was carted off for emergency stitches.

Alex was beginning to get her game together now. Seeing at least one of her best friends win spurred on a change in her patterns. Aerith was soon astounded; Alex would either attack in a way that Aerith could easily block, and then curve the strike to land on a weak point, or else will her blade to change shape to wrap around the staff and pull it aside so Alex could punch, kick, or incur some other form of physical injury. Soon, Aerith was robbed of her staff and, after Alex sheathed her blade, Aerith found herself on the receiving end of a brutal series of grapples that sent her sprawling along the arena floor. She conceded defeat shortly after Alex walked over to ask, quite nonchalantly if Aerith wanted some more. Alex and Sam helped Aerith up so the three could go and watch Clover and Tifa's match.

Tifa was gaining the upper hand. Unlike her friends, Clover had been cocky the entire fight, and it was starting to come back to get her. Several times she found herself flying over Tifa's shoulders and felt unprecedented pain as she landed, HARD on her back, on the dusty concrete floor. She struggled to stand, her legs now wobbling a bit.

"COME ON CLOVER! YOU'VE CLOBBERED FAR WORSE THAN HER!" Sam shouted.

"YEAH, CLOVER, IF ANYONE CAN TAKE OUT THE HUMAN BOVINE HERE, YOU CAN!" Alex shouted. Both her friends kept shouting words of encouragement, and soon Aerith joined in. Clover felt her second wind coming on, and managed to hook Tifa with a few good shots to the ribs, winding the overly-gifted woman and sending her sliding back. Tifa scowled.

"Aerith, I thought you were on my side! Why are you cheering for her?" Tifa said, walking toward her friend. She realized a moment too late that this was going to be her deciding moment: Clover was rushing to get under her defenses, both arms outstretched and waiting to either block/parry, or combine into a powerful, doubled-handed punch. Tifa knew if that hit connected with at all, she'd be coughing blood.

She whirled around and swept her left leg to try and trip up the younger girl, who proceeded to massively outwit Tifa. In one fluid movement, Clover vaulted over Tifa's leg and landed a powerful chain of kicks to her chest and face, finally finishing after what, to Tifa, felt like an eternity of pain, with a two-handed hammer punch that sent her crashing face-first into the concrete. Tifa didn't stay conscious long enough to even moan in defeat. Clover sighed and sat down to catch her breath. She soon groaned as a burst of pain ripped through her side. She looked and discovered a small, bleeding bruise. She shook her head and laid back. She may have won the battle, but Tifa got the last laugh.

Clover got to her feet moments later and pulled a strip from her shirt to wrap around the injury and try to stop the bleeding. After that, she walked over to Tifa and hoisted the woman's frame-which, as it turned out, was heavier than it looked due to her... assets… onto her arm and shoulder, then began slowly walking back to the medical tent. They both needed attention.

Quite some time later, everyone gathered inside the conference tent to discuss their course of actions. Shin-Ra had to fall from his pedestal. Cloud eventually came up with a plan of attack...

And now, here sat Clover, bearing the knowledge that Alex, Sam, and herself, would be going in against Rufus Shin-Ra to deal the final blows. They'd be the point-girls.

Her attention was drawn to Tifa, who had walked up behind her and sat down.

"Hey. How're your injuries from a couple weeks ago faring?" Clover asked. Tifa smiled a bit, gingerly tracing a particular bruise on her left shoulder which a small gasp and a bit of a blush.

"Not too bad... Could have been much worse, seeing how strong you are. Cloud told us how you and your friends managed to take out Sephiroth AND Rufus on your own. Pretty impressive, considering Cloud's usually the one to face Sephiroth. Can't say much for Rufus, though... Aside from the fact that he's a spoiled daddy's boy who should be spanked hard with a paddle made of steel mesh for at least a week," Tifa said with an air of comedy about her. She and Clover laughed a bit at the thought of the white-coated man strapped over a table with all the girls taking turns whacking him with said paddle...

Clover stopped a short time later and took a deep breath, then asked, "Why is it whenever Sam, Alex and I get in the middle of a struggle, we wind up being the ones who have to diffuse the entire thing?" For as long as she could remember, the three of them had been carted off to WOOHP, given gadgets and an assignment... then almost immediately afterward, gone in and taken care of a possibly earth-shatteringly disastrous situation.

"Don't think you're alone in this, Clover," Tifa said, moving to sit down next to the girl, "Long before you came here, things were simple, peaceful even. Cloud and I grew up in the same town, but... we barely saw each other much. One time a bunch of the neighborhood kids wanted to go deep into the Nibelheim Mountains. We were part-way across the bridge when the bridge broke. The adults were quick to come over and take care of everything, but my father was extremely cold with Cloud, blaming him for my accident. A few years later, we met at night on the well in Nibelheim's town square, and that's when Cloud told me his wish: to be a member of SOLDIER, an elite Shin-Ra military unit, and become stronger so he could protect those that mattered to him. I asked him to promise me that if he made it... he'd come back and save me in my time of need, like the knight in shining armor in one of those old movies."

"However, several years later, Shin-Ra sent their last remaining SOLDIER 1sts to Nibelheim to inspect our Mako reactor. Cloud was with them, but was just an infantryman... he kept his helmet on the whole time. I instead got to meet Zack, whom you already know. That team included two other infantrymen and Sephiroth, who was a SOLDIER 1st Class at the time. During their mission, something went wrong; Sephiroth came back like a man in a trance and locked himself in the Shin-Ra Manor basement for seven days. Then, on the seventh day, all hell broke loose. Sephiroth lit the entire town on fire; he burned it all to ashes." Clover looked over to see Tifa's left hand clenching into a fist, tighter and tighter with each passing second until she was sure the busty woman's finger nails would start digging into her palms and bleed her.

"I wound up going with my father to get answers, but Sephiroth killed my father and left his sword behind. I attempted to kill him, but he struck me down by hand. Zack showed up moments later to set things straight, but was sent packing. Cloud showed up during his fight. He moved me out of harm's way... and kept his promise to come to my aide when I needed it. He took up Zack's sword and tried to finish off Sephiroth. He almost failed... but managed it through sheer willpower. From what he told me, he'd spent four years in a tube of Mako energy, in a state of drug-induced stasis while they experimented on him and Zack. When they broke out, I was already long gone, having been hired by Barret to run a bar in the Sector Seven slums as a hide-out for the first incarnation of AVANLANCHE. After those four years, somehow Zack broke free and brought Cloud close to Midgar, but died. Cloud inherited Zack's sword and memories, then used them to create a fake persona that he used to identify himself with. Basically, he fooled himself into believing he WAS Zack. He joined AVALANCHE, but our mission to take down Shin-Ra wound up taking a strange turn; Sephiroth wasn't quite dead. We took to chasing him down across the world, and finally it was Cloud that beat him down, deep within the Lifestream itself."

"Since then, Sephiroth has appeared several times, and each time he has, it's always been Cloud fighting him for our sakes, as well as his own. Cloud's had a lot of time to think, and a lot of time to plan for every eventuality. I talked to him about it after we solidified the plan, and he said he felt you three were the best ones for the job. Rufus knows attacks and spells that you three seem to be immune to, so even if only for a while, this is best for everyone. If you think about it, you're taking most of the heat off of Cloud and giving him time to relax. He needs that after everything he's been through in life. So," Tifa said, placing her hand idly on Clover's, "Can you do this, Clover? If not for yourself, then could you do it for Cloud?"

Clover thought about all this for a couple seconds, then smiled and said, "Alright. Cloud deserves it. I know I can believe you if you were Cloud's friend as a child!" She smiled and leaned back against the tree. Tifa did the same. It was only then that Clover looked over.

"Tifa?" she asked. Tifa looked over with confusion on her face.

"Yeah, what's wrong?" Tifa asked.

"I've been wondering for a while… how did you manage to get them so HUGE?" Clover asked. The fact that Tifa's chest was bigger than the combined sizes of all the other girls in camp was frustrating to Clover.

"I really don't know. I never did anything that superstition claimed would make them grow, like drinking lots of milk or... massaging them, for all the good that would do to make you a pervert," Tifa said, relaxing a bit more, "But I'll tell you this: I may not know how I managed to grow them this big, but my father before he died told me that all things about a person's growth are determined by their genes. If being tall is in your genetics, you'll grow tall. If being handsome or beautiful is in your genetics, which I can tell you got in spades," Tifa winked at Clover, who blushed, "Then you'll grow up to be beautiful. However, this also applies to... chest size. If it's in your genes, you'll be busty. If not, then you won't be. Only a few girls I met in your world had the genes for being truly busty women on their own. Some of the ones Aerith, Yuffie and I met had gotten surgery to make them bigger, which is fake and wrong on massive levels."

"Wait, you're saying you didn't have those augmented? Those are natural? And how is it wrong?" Clover asked. Tifa slapped her forehead, and turned to sit in front of Clover, holding the younger girl's left shoulder in her left hand while using the other to hold both of Clover's hands.

"No doctor in any world would be able to do THIS to a woman and get away with it, Clover," Tifa said, momentarily gesturing to her breasts with the hand she held on Clover's shoulder, "But I'll give you a piece of advice. NEVER let anyone, especially a man, cut your body to enhance or change it. And if any man you're with asks you to get surgery to change what you look like, that means he doesn't truly love you, he's just in love with your body and looks. Surgery like breast enhancement means you're not comfortable or happy with how you are, and would rather lie to yourself and everyone around you to make yourself feel better. I don't try and land every man that walks by JUST because my breasts are big enough to handle three on their own. I don't need that. Not when I've got my friends and those I consider family, like everyone here in NEO AVALANCHE. Even you, Sam and Alex count now."

"So, what are you saying?" Clover asked. Tifa hugged Clover and pulled her as close to herself as her massive bust would allow.

"Clover, what I'm saying is this: don't change yourself just to become acceptable in the eyes of society. Be comfortable and happy with who you are and how you are, because somewhere out there is someone who is looking for you EXACTLY how you are. Be yourself, and only yourself. That's my advice to you as a fellow woman," Tifa said, giving Clover a light peck on the cheek, like a mother to her child, then standing and walking down the grassy hill to go back to camp.

Clover sat against the tree for a while in contemplation. Fifteen minutes later she stood and smiled, then followed Tifa's footsteps down the hill and back to camp, feeling much better about herself.

Days later the teams set off. Cloud had split the team into specialized squads that had specific missions.

As they arrived outside the city, Cloud radioed Nogias to begin the aquatic assault. Nogias acknowledged and set about leading the submarine and its crew to the underwater docking station of Midgar. Meanwhile, Cloud checked in with Cid to begin the aerial assault. Cid gave an enthusiastic "ROGER!" before ordering the small fleet of airships that'd assembled to start firing every weapon they had at once. Their job: Take down the Mako Reactors.

Meanwhile, Cloud alerted the rest of the Land Brigade to begin storming the city. The head buggy contained Sam, Alex, Clover, Cloud, Sephiroth, Zack, Angeal, and Genesis. Their mission was to get the girls into the building. Mere minutes after bursting through the gates of Midgar, the Land Brigade arrived at the doors of the Shin-Ra building. Crashing through the front doors, the head buggy came to a full stop in the lobby. The rest of the Land Brigade stopped behind their leader's vehicle and got out, awaiting their orders.

Cloud stepped out of the car first, with a sword in each hand, one on each side and one on each shoulder. During the past few weeks, he'd asked the weapon smiths to develop swords for him and Zack that would function just like the Buster Blade, but would be lighter in weight so they could use it with one hand, if needed. Only days later, the smiths had invented the first prototype Fusion Swords and gave them to Cloud for testing. After a couple more days of testing and tweaking designs, the completed version was ready, made in duplicate as per request.

Cloud quietly raised his hands up, examining the shine and shimmer of both blades individually. They were indeed magnificent pieces of work, just like the ones on his sides and shoulders. He turned around, smiling as the rest of the Main Brigade exited the vehicles: Alex, her sword sharpened to a razor point and ready to go; Sam, he shield rapidly extending and retracting its blades at her command; Clover, punching her gloved hands several times to flew up; Zack, with his own Fusion Swords dangling off his sides like old-style samurai armor; Genesis, his Rapier glowing a deep, menacing red; Angeal, the Buster Blade resting proudly along its owner's shoulders; Sephiroth, his trademark Masamune resting, handle in his hand, ready to begin work.

The rest of NEO AVALANCHE filed out of the remaining buggies, weapons of all varieties in hand and at the ready. Turning around, Cloud took a good look at the men and women that formed his "army". Most were people who'd never fought a day in their lives, and had merely resigned themselves to living in total squalor out in North Corel. However, at the promise of change and better living, the citizens of that poor, run-down mining town had risen up in union, rallying under this scrawny-armed, gravity-defiantly Chocobo-headed man. He still wished they wouldn't equate his hair to a Chocobo's butt, but in this situation, whatever kept them behind him was worth it.

A few run-of-the-mill infantrymen noticed the break in and ran forward… only to be instantly cut down by Cloud's twin swords. Putting them together, he pulled each blade off his person and put them into the main one in his right hand. When the completed Fusion Swords was completed, he held it high. Zack smiled, recognizing what Cloud was about to do.

"MEMBERS OF NEO AVALANCHE, LISTEN UP!" Cloud shouted, drawing the attention of everyone in the group.

"This is our moment of truth, our ultimate end-game. Once we're done here, Shin-Ra Electric Power Corp. will be no more. After that, it may take some time, but we can rebuild the world as we know it to be better and completely independent of Mako energy. AT THE END OF THE DAY, WHEN WE'RE DONE OUR MISSION, THIS PLANET WILL BE OURS TO BUILD AND LIVE ON AS WE PLEASE, FREE OF OPPRESSION AND INSANE TAXES!" With this, the entire army burst out in a raucous wave of cheering.

"As such, I have only TWO orders for all of you. The second order is for you all to obey the commanders who lead your units. Fight at your best and do everything you can to come back alive! And the first order is this," Cloud lifted the Fusion Swords skyward, the tip catching the light of the sun and scattering its light all over the room, brought it back down to momentarily rest his head against the flat edge, then dramatically flung it out to the side with magic so all six swords hung in the air like a star, "ALWAYS, WITHOUT FAIL… UPHOLD YOUR HONOR AS HUMANS, AND AS MEMBERS OF NEO AVALANCHE! NEVER GIVE UP YOUR HONOR!" Everyone in the room cheered louder, except for four. For Angeal, Sephiroth, Genesis and Zack, this moment was more symbolic than they wanted to admit; They'd all been a part of a moment like this at some point in their lives, and it had only ever been Angeal and Zack that had made that speech. Uttering a silent thank you to Cloud, the four readied their weapons and prepared.

"Barret," Cloud said, "I want you to take Vincent and some of the fighters to make the Decoy team. Then, go to the basement area and cause as much mayhem as you possibly can." Barret smiled; making a scene was his

Cloud looked to Zack and said, "Zack Fair, First Platoon: Take a portion of the men and Platoon Vice-General Angeal Hewley to the research floor. Evacuate as many people as you can… including Hojo Junior, if you can find him. If not… well, we'll deal with that when it happens." Zack and Angeal nodded and took off, followed by a swathe of the fighters.

Cloud then looked to Sephiroth and Genesis, saying, "Vice-Generals Sephiroth and Genesis Rhapsodos, you'll take Second Platoon to the SOLDIER floor and DESTROY EVERYTHING. Anyone that comes is to be offered a chance to come with us and spared if they choose to come with us; if they refuse, kill them. And when I say destroy everything, I MEAN EVERYTHING. Leave no machine in one piece; we don't want to leave that bastard Rufus with any chances of further healing himself." Both men nodded and took off, taking a portion of the forces with them.

"Musaji, I'm leaving you and your sisters to take out floors twenty through forty," Cloud said, "Meanwhile, Omega, You take the PSYONICS team and start from this floor and go to Floor Twenty. If you find civilians or soldiers, offer them safety and spare them if they choose us; kill everything that moves otherwise. LEAVE THE STAIRS WHOLE; we need an escape route if the elevator breaks down and the airships can't get within range of us!" The eight nanotech warriors nodded and set off on their separate tasks.

Cloud then turned to Tifa and said, "Tifa… Can I trust you to lead a demolition squad from the fortieth floor up to the sixtieth?" Tifa nodded, signaling that she understood the rules: Offer sanctuary to civilians and soldiers alike, eliminate those who refused, and destroy everything while making sure not to damage the stairs should an escape route be needed. She nodded for Aerith and Yuffie to move, and the three girls took another small group of soldiers with them as they headed for the elevators.

Cloud turned to Sam, Clover, and Alex. With a simple glance that said, "Let's move," they nodded and followed after him, taking with them what remained of the soldiers. As they neared the elevators, Cloud informed the soldiers that he'd meet them at the sixtieth floor, and that they'd take the elevators to clear the way ahead of time. The soldiers nodded and took off for the stairs.

Cloud kept the radio to all frequencies to keep track of all the action as he and the spies rode the elevator up sixty floors. As they neared the end, the doors opened to … nothing. The room ahead seemed devoid of all life. Even the furnishings seemed to be those of an undead beast waiting for its next meal.

"What is… going on?" Clover asked. Cloud looked around.

"Something's not right here," Sam said, waiting anxiously to take a step outside the elevator and investigate. Alex, on the other hand, seemed to be almost on the brink of collapse, her breathing getting more labored as the minutes slowly passed, her skin paling, and sweat rolling down her features in rivers while a deep blush rapidly swept across her face... Clover was the first to notice it.

"Alex? What's wrong? Are you alright?" she asked. She gasped in horror soon after as Alex's body seemed to give way, falling over flat on her stomach. Sam gasped in worry and asked Cloud and Clover to help her move Alex into the room to check her.

"Not a good idea. Whatever got Alex might get us next; we don't want to run that chance," Cloud said, closing the elevator doors and slamming the emergency button. The small glass-cased room locked itself in place while Sam and Clover set about setting Alex against the glass pane. Moments later, Alex's eyes opened, wincing a bit at the light.

"W… what happened?" she asked.

"What do you mean what happened?" Clover asked, "You were breathing all weird and just suddenly collapsed to the floor unconscious. You can't tell me you don't… wait a minute, what's that?" Clover said, noticing something by Alex's leg. She leaned down and placed her fingers in a small pool of clear fluid at the door of the elevator. Her fingers seemed to go right through it, but when she pulled it away, it seemed to resemble… honey?

It was then that Clover noticed a trail leading from the pool towards Alex's early position, and another, smaller one leading to Alex. Her eyes followed the second, almost invisible trail to Alex's resting body… and noticed the same fluid rushing down her friend's legs in streams.

"Alex… do you remember feeling anything about five minutes ago, before you passed out?" Clover asked, her highly worried tone catching Cloud's attention.

"Clover, did you find something?" Cloud asked. She held out her hand to him, motioning for him to inspect the fluid. He did so, his face turning grim as he watched Clover's hand move along the trails. He watched, almost frightened, as the streams on Alex's legs formed another slightly smaller between them.

"Girls," he said grimly, "I think I'm going to have to go in alone for this. I think Rufus has found a way to make his body invisible, and is using perverted tactics to try and take you three out of the battle. Alex didn't just succumb to a poison… He used his hands to … touch her in arousing ways. I'll come and open the elevator when it's time for you three to come out, alright?" he said. He approached the door, only to stop moments later at the feeling of a shaking hand on his shoulder. He turned around and saw Alex standing on shaky legs.

"No, Cloud. You wanted US to deal with him. We'll find a way to pull past it! We always have to figure a way out of stickier situations than this anyway…" She thought a moment, and then held up a finger in a "EUREKA!" pose.

"What if we tried channeling those dragons again, but as armor instead of actually replacing ourselves WITH them?" Alex asked. Sam and Clover nodded.

"That could work… but what of he manages to find a way through?" Clover asked. Sam was quick to pipe up this time.

"Remember, against Sephiroth, we summoned those goddess beings with our X-Powders? What if we try pulling a combination of the dragons and the goddesses? The dragons would serve as armor, while the goddesses would act as some sort of celestial guard to keep him from damaging our armor?" Sam suggested. Alex and Clover nodded. They sat down to think it through.

"But… how do we do that?" Clover asked.

"As far as I remember, both seem to activate when we're focusing our anger on a target… what would happen if we tried focusing our will to succeed instead?" Clover asked. Sam nodded.

"Anger seemed strong enough, but a will to succeed might provide an extra boost of power," Alex replied. Cloud sat down with them.

"It seems to me that these goddesses and dragons act like summons. They may have only reacted to your anger and the names you called because you were in danger of dying. As summons unique to you three, if you die, they perish with you. So you may have to commune with your X-Powders and weapons and find out what they really want from you, instead of trying to concoct schemes and plans that may wind up actually killing you," Cloud said, and all three nodded. When asked how they could go about it, Cloud thought for a moment. He then pulled out a small, red orb that seemed to glow with fire.

"This, girls," Cloud said, "is the Materia for a unique sub-species of the Dragon King, Bahamut; in specific, this Materia summons a space dragon named NEO Bahamut. Watch and learn." Cloud entered a meditation position, the Materia placed squarely between his knees. He sat still, concentrating quietly. Moments later, an ethereal vision of a large dragon with six, bat-like wings, coated in metal plates, appeared.

"Strife… What is it?" the dragon asked. Without even moving, Cloud opened his mouth to speak.

"The three girls in front of me want to know how to commune with several summon monsters that have been ingrained into their weapons and communicators. How do we do this?" The ethereal dragon looked at the girls for a few seconds, and then kindly asked to see the equipment. When shown, it seemed shocked.

"The Soul Core Weapons have been found? How long have those been in your possession?" it asked in a strong, booming male voice. The girls tried to go back through their memories, and failed to notice the dragon stretching a claw towards Sam's shield. A faint glow flashed, telling the dragon what it needed to know.

"You've had these for roughly two or three months now, haven't you?" it asked. The three girls nodded.

"That means they've now permanently bonded themselves to your souls. IN the event that you sustain a mortal wound, these weapons will remove themselves from your souls and reseal themselves elsewhere until they are found again. Now, as for your communication devices… Ah. I see traces sacred energy within. You don't have just ANY goddesses within those devices; you hold the three daughters of Minerva, the Mother Goddess of Gaia. You were using incorrect names, however."

"It was said that at one time, the Goddess Minerva spontaneously "gave birth" to three beings that had the potential for great destruction and great salvation. The Goddess Minerva split these beings into two parts each: The side of light, holding their powers of salvation, and the side of dark, holding their powers of destruction. The destructive powers were cast down to the Planet Gaia, where, upon contact with the soil, they split into the summons you know today. Naturally, I am but one of those many beings. However, upon seeing how powerful they were, the original numbers secluded themselves, and eventually sealed themselves within pools of concentrated Lifestream, where they could do no harm, and were eventually crystallized into what is now commonly called a "Materia"."

"Meanwhile, up in the heavens, the three beings of salvation where named with primitive human language and given goddess status: Setsuka, Goddess of Ice and Water; Raika, Goddess of Electricity; Houka, Goddess of Fire. They were given specific tasks to perform in keeping the planet Gaia alive and prospering. It is, in fact, their combined efforts that make the Lifestream possible, with their mother's energy controlling and guiding its flow of rebirth to keep it from spiraling completely out of control."

"As for the dragons within your weapons, they are actually the draconic pets of the sub-species of the Summon Monster Hades, Lord of the Underworld. They were his accidental offspring when he tried to pull Shiva, disguised as a human soul, into Hell with the souls of the damned. Once there, she enacted the old adage and froze Hell over. Enraged, Hades cast his magic upon her, and five days later, as the Goddess Minerva had, Shiva "gave birth" to her own children. Her daughter Sade, a nickname for Satan, The Empress of Evil, created the dragon Komaryu from her mastery of Fire, which she gained by training daily with the monster Ifrit. Her daughter Lucy, short for Lucifer, The Empress of Sin, created the fallen dragon Sakoryu from the terrain of Hell itself, where earth and air co-mingled into an ever-changing mass of chaotic free-fall, using control of Earth and Wind that she gained from training with the monsters Titan and Typhon. Lastly, her daughter Belle, short for Beelzebub, The Empress of Lust, created the ice dragon Tendoryu from the mastery of Ice she received naturally from her mother Shiva." 

"The three dragons, when used against a single foe, can, in fact, combine to create the true form of the beast Cerberus, The Hound of Hell: Bahamut HELL, a three headed monstrosity of a dragon that can literally destroy the world, if left unchained. It would, however, require all three of them to control, and since they respond to you…You can use the meditation method to gain direct access to their mistress' summoning incantations as well."

"But," The dragon paused to take a breath, "In answer of Strife's question, all you have to do is… the same thing he did to call on me. Sit with your items held in your laps and meditate, calling on their names. You'll have to do each item one at a time to protect yourselves from mental backlash; I understand Strife's friend Wallace did that once and wound up in bed for three weeks." Cloud nodded solemnly.

"Yeah," Cloud said, a grimace on his face, "Tifa chewed him out good for that one… wouldn't let him live it down for a year afterward." The girls chuckled.

"You three really oughtn't to waste more time. The faster you finish, the faster you'll be able to defeat your foe at hand. Good luck; I pray that the Goddess Minerva will smile upon you. Farewell," NEO Bahamut said, bowing his head quickly as he faded away. The girls stared at each other, then at their weapons and communicators. In the devices they held the powers of angels, while in their weapons they held demonic power. Suddenly the idea of combining the two didn't sound so good.

Nevertheless, Cloud watched as the three settled into place after a moment of silent discussion, preparing for what was to come. All three chose to try their angelic guardians for help first, and set them upon their laps, slowly slipping into meditative states. Moments later, the three devices opened on their own, and the facial profiles of three women appeared from the holographic screens of each: from Sam's, a woman with straight, pale, ice-like blue hair, ghost-white skin and pale violet eyes with the name "SETSUKA" spelled underneath; from Alex's, a woman with gleaming, electric-blue eyes and wild, golden-blonde hair, with the name "RAIKA" spelled out underneath; from Clover's came the face of a woman with long, wavy hair redder than fire and burning orange eyes, with the name "HOUKA" spelled beneath. Cloud bowed. The one named Houka was the first to speak.

"**Ah, yes,"** she said, her voice surprisingly soft and gentle for one called the Goddess of Fire, though not without a touch of warmth, **"Cloud Strife. Which of us was it that had a hand in creating him with mother, sisters?"**

"**I believe we all did,"** Raika said, her voice raspy and low, almost a hoarse boom.

"**I believe you need to refrain from overusing your beautiful voice, Sister Raika,"** Setsuka chimed in, her voice calm and silky, yet strikingly chilling, **"Do remember that you injured your throat in our last practice match when you began hurling those thunder bolts at us from your mouth, despite all our warnings not to…"**

"**Now, now, Sister Setsuka,"** Houka said, **"Now is not the time for squabbling amongst ourselves. It would seem the three who used our more primal forms once before now seek our aide again. So, Clover, was it?"** Clover didn't lift her head, but nodded in reply.

"**What is it you and your friends had in mind?"** Houka asked.

"Well," Clover said, "first, we want to know if it's possible for you and the… other summons in our weapons can make some form of armor to protect us. Our opponent is-"

"**Rufus Shin-Ra,"** Setsuka said, her voice gaining a hint of resentment and hatred.

"**Calm, Sister Setsuka,"** Raika rasped, **"he may claim himself to be god-like, but he will never, ever come close."** Raika coughed a bit. Setsuka snapped her fingers and seemed to reach over to touch the area where Raika's neck was in the image. A soft, blue glow emanated from the tips of her fingers.

"**Thank you for that, Sister Setsuka,"** Raika said, her voice now sounding like a combination of both her sisters; soft and silky like Setsuka, but warm like Houka. The one key difference was that her voice seemed more energetic than those of her sisters, who sounded tired.

"**Please, Sister Raika, we can't have you hurting yourself every time you speak! Think nothing of it,"** Setsuka said, her face gaining a rather frosty, yet beaming smile.

"**Getting back to the matter at hand,"** Houka said, **"Yes. We know of your predicament. We were contemplating speaking to you ourselves when Sir Cloud showed you how to commune with Materia. We really ought to invite Sir NEO for tea sometime in the future."** Cloud chuckled.

"**In the way of armor, our heavenly garb would certainly do the job correctly… I would, however like to know why you choose to use us for protection instead of weaponry,"** Setsuka asked.

"Well… Technically we already have the summons inside our weapons for that purpose," Sam said.

"**Lady Samantha,"** Setsuka said, **"Using angelic protection with demonic weaponry is not a wise idea. The weapons would attempt to control you, and if you completely release the beings within… it could be catastrophic!"**

"Don't worry about that," Alex said, "We've let the pet dragons out once already… but not against Rufus. We intend to go all the way on him and REALLY make him regret messing with Cloud and his friends!"

The three goddesses gave each other knowing looks before Houka said, **"Very well… We will serve as your armor. You seem to be quite confident in your abilities to keep the possession at bay. If you require, we can also lend a portion of our strength to help repel the demonic energy from your bodies should it begin to overwhelm you."** Sam nodded.

"That would be most appreciated," Sam said, "Oh, and Goddess Setsuka?"

"**Yes?"** The icy goddess replied.

"I'm sorry for using your… other self a while back… We had a tough foe to take down," Sam said. Setsuka smiled.

"**Do not fret over it, Lady Samantha,"** she said, **"You were in a time of crisis. And I understand… That man Sephiroth has always been a handful. Even for our mother… no matter how many times she restrains him within the Lifestream with her most powerful spells and seals, he always managed to discover a means of escaping her. He has frustrated and enraged her many times… which is why every time you've most needed it, Sir Cloud,"** Setsuka smiled at Cloud, **"She has always given you a little boost in your strength to help you defeat him. She dislikes Sephiroth vastly for constantly trying to destroy her life's work… But it looks like she might be able to forgive him if his so-called "rehabilitation" is to be believed."**

Cloud nodded, and then asked, "So, for the weapons, it's the same thing?"

"**Yes, although the Demonic Divas may need to be beaten in a fight to prove the worth of the one summoning them before granting their powers," **Setsuka replied. Sam, Alex, and Clover nodded in understanding.

"**If that is all, we should be going. We need to ready our armor for battle. As it is, you caught us coming from the bath, which is why you can only see our faces. Unless, of course,"** Raika said, **"There is something ELSE you want to ask us…"** she let the hint hang in the air. Sam took the bait.

"Why did you choose US? I mean, if what you say is true and Goddess Minerva favors anyone who fights Sephiroth, then why didn't you give your strength to Aerith, or Tifa or Yuffie?" Sam asked, confused. Houka held a hand to stop her sisters, choosing instead to explain it herself.

"**We chose you three because Sir Cloud has been doing many things for our Mother for a long time and hasn't known until now. As for the other three girls, technically, Miss Aerith is supposed to be dead, Miss Yuffie is a thief, and… Well, I can't think it'd work if we all blessed Miss Tifa with all our powers at once. When you entered this realm, we looked into your memories and found quite a good collection of good deeds done. We decided you'd be perfect for the task of removing Rufus from this planet. Now hurry; you don't have much time!"** the goddess said, vanishing along with her sisters. The girls nodded and set their X-Powders aside, and then set their weapons on their laps. However, when they began meditating, instead of the image of the creatures within showing above their weapons, the girls gasped, and then went still. Cloud watched, slightly scared, as the three girls sat deathly still, heads hanging down with eyes wide open.

~ ELSEWHERE… ~

A din of loud, wicked laughter filled Sam's ears as her eyes fluttered open. She looked around and gasped; on either side of her were Clover and Alex, chained by their wrists to a large wall. She looked around and found the walls around them lined… no, the walls were almost PAINTED with dangling people. Some of the bodies, with a second glance, proved to be feminine in appearance, and Sam could almost feel their pain as they howled in apparent agony. The more masculine forms dangling from the wall groaned loudly, small white flecks falling from their mouths; Sam realized soon after that the men had been gnashing their teeth with enough force to grind them into powder.

"W-WHERE ARE WE?" Clover shouted. Sam hadn't been paying much attention to Either Clover or Alex, and hadn't noticed her waking up.

"I… I don't know," Sam said, trying to calm her down. It was then that she realized something else: She'd been breathing normally for the time she'd been awake… but the entire set-up of the place was like an artist's vision of HELL, complete with thick, heavy clouds of smoke. How was she breathing normally when she should be either close to passing out, or else… dead? Moments later Alex woke up and, strangely enough, kept her cool.

"_AH, so the young mistresses are finally awake and able to speak. So,"_ Came a sultry voice from somewhere above them, _"Why have you called us out?"_ Sam, Alex, and Clover looked up to see three figures descending to their position on the wall, and audibly gasped.

Two of the three figures were feminine in appearance; the third seemed to be far too buff to be a woman. The two without armor were almost as well-endowed as Tifa, if not slightly more-so, and each was scary in her own right. The woman on the left, whose ice-blue hair was cut short to the scalp, gave the girls an almost seductive look with orange-ringed frost-blue eyes. She wore what appeared to be a red bathrobe… and nothing else; this was obvious in that it was pulled back around the chest, tied around the woman's perfect hourglass frame, and left to float open everywhere else, revealing more than a generous helping of cleavage and a constant flashing of everything underneath. The woman barely even made any attempt to cover up. Her snide smirk looked ready to split her head open.

The second woman had a slight bit of muscle on her, and was JUST slightly less endowed than her sister before her. Sam found herself quietly thanking her luck for THIS one; at least SHE had the decency to wear some clothes. Given that the CLOTHES in question seemed to be a steel-plated bustier… Sam silently took back everything she'd just thought. Her white-streaked brown hair reached past her knees and seemed both solid like stone, yet formless as wind, while her eyes resembled those of her sister, only hers were pure white with a single brown ring around the pupil. The thing that really struck Sam looking at this one was the sheer number of large scars across what could be seen of her body. Sam could only silently wonder how many more she was trying to hide…

It was only after the third stepped toward the girls that the veil of darkness around it dissipated, revealing the face of a woman. She was the most clothed of the three, apparently taking the concept of modesty as a way of life. Her hair, which flowed redder than a burning flame, stopped around her… armored shoulders. This one actually looked like a denizen of hell preparing for a battle of epic proportions. The armor itself, crackling with red fire in places while simply smoldering in others, was an almost full-body display that covered off everything the woman had. The only things Sam could see clearly were small cracks of red in the joints; it seemed underneath the armor was a flexible red bodysuit. Sam could all but tell that the woman's hair progressed farther down than it showed, and if the helmet held under her left arm was any clue, it seemed she was a bit shy about being seen in battle either out of her armor or without said helmet. Sam couldn't help but admire the helmet's detail: a set of small horns from just above the eyes to the back of the head with two larger ones protruding from the top of the helmet with a forward bend to jut out about a foot-and-a-half in the front, while the face guard, all one piece, resembled what Sam had seen in historical pieces as a smiling demon. _'How fitting,'_ Sam thought before deciding to speak.

"I'm making a guess here, but you three are Sade, Belle, and Lucy, right? Daughters of The Ice Goddess Shiva and Hades, King of Hell?" Sam asked. At simple nods and a bored look from the one in the armor, she continued.

"I will simply assume you know who we are, so why don't you let us down and we'll discuss things like grown women?" Sam asked, silently wishing she hadn't when the one in the robe got up close.

"_So, you enjoy being a smart-ass, huh? LIKE GROWN WOMEN? WE'RE __**DEMONS**__, as in the SPAWN OF THE UNDERWORLD ITSELF, while you are JUST MERE HUMANS! There is no discussing anything like grown beings of any kind unless you prove yourselves!"_ the woman shouted. She was soon pulled aside by her armored sister. Not one of the four remaining women would ever know what EXACTLY happened, but by the way the robed woman hung her head with a downcast gaze, coupled with a rather pronounced lump sticking out at an angle from the left side of her head told of SOMETHING happening that was better left unasked. At least, she stayed quiet for a little while.

The woman with white-and-brown hair said, _"Please forgive Sister Belle… she doesn't get out much and … truth be told, just lost a game of strip poker against myself and Sister Sade a short while before you three decided to drop in. She ALWAYS loses… We keep telling her to work on her "poker face", but she never listens."_ Sam nodded, and soon found herself standing on both feet along with Alex and Clover. Alex was the first of the three to speak.

"So that means you're Sade, right?" she asked, gesturing toward the armored woman, who simply blushed a bit, nodded, then hid behind her white-haired sister.

"_Please also forgive Sister Sade… She's, how do you say… shy,"_ Lucy said. Sade's only reaction was to blush a bit deeper. She reached a hand out and waved to the three girls from behind her sister, who simply shook her head.

"So you have a horrible gambler with a short fuse and a super-shy warrior for sisters?" Clover asked. She then stepped forward and, taking both of Lucy's hands in her own, said, "I'm sorry. It must be hard having to speak for at least ONE of them out in battle… I imagine Sade has something to disguise even her voice when that helmet's on her head?" Lucy nodded.

"_AND JUST WHAT THE HELL IS THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN, HORRIBLE GAMBLER WITH A SHORT TEMPER?"_ Belle shouted, running headlong into a solid metal-coated arm. Sade bent over and picked up her now unconscious sister and roped her to the wall behind the girls, making sure to work a bit of her hellish magic into covering up the parts of her sister that shouldn't be seen. Sam thanked whoever could hear her that at least ONE of them had SOME semblance of decency.

"_So,"_ Lucy said, _"I take it you three wish to discuss the use of not only our pets, but inevitably our powers as well. Your weapons, though you may not realize, carry some level of sentiency each, and due to their housing our pets, we're able to use them as sensory mediums and 'TASTE' the outer world, in a sense. We were listening to your conversation with the three Goddesses; you wish to use our pets in their weapon forms, but wish for us to give you some sort of protection against that boy Rufus, correct?"_ Sam nodded.

"It had actually been our idea to ask for your summoning incantations. We want to have you three take Rufus into a dimension where the power of Bahamut HELL won't be a threat to this world," Sam said. Sade seemed to brighten a bit at this.

"_You actually wish for us to get rid of him for you?"_ Sade asked. At Sam's nod of approval, Sade began dancing around the cavern quietly so as not to wake her sleeping sister.

"_I think you just got her vote…"_ Lucy said, _"She's been looking for a reason to drag that little scumbag down here for years now. She's been begging Father to let her bring Rufus in for… a couple nasty-sounding SESSIONS, as she put it. She may not look it, but Sister Sade is a MAJOR torture specialist. She only ever handles the WORST of the worst cases, and she VASTLY enjoys herself during her SESSIONS, if you catch my drift…"_ The girls gulped and nodded, silently hoping they never sparked the armored demoness' interest.

Sade settled down and stood next to her sister. With a growing disinterest in her armor, she began to take it off, piece by piece, until she was finally standing before the girls in nothing but the bodysuit… which gave a glaring display of why she was so shy. As Sade stood before the girls in all her jolly, demonic glory, Sam's eyes gave the girls a quick once-over, noting the lack of the assets her sisters had. In fact, what her sisters had in spades… the only way Sam could think to describe it was that Sade had gotten the EXTREMELY short end of the stick. To her credit, her face was beautiful for a demoness… but her body itself lacked anything in the way of femininity. She noticed Sade's face going deep red again, and turned away in apology. Sade shook her head.

"_No, Lady Samantha,"_ Sade said, _"It's not what you think at all… It's just…"_ Sade was cut off as a deep, rumbling laugh rang from behind the group. A large cloaked figure floated towards them, the hood of its cloak showing only a bony skull. Sade and Lucy immediately dropped to their knees, as did the girls.

"_**I come down to the Plateau of Penance to kill some time and what do I find but my own three daughters speaking to their contractors. This is a nice surprise!"**_ The bony figure said. Sam stole a glance. The skull was devoid of any muscle, but still… the bones themselves were moving to form the most DISTURBING smile she'd ever seen. Sam quietly steeled her nerves, assuring herself she'd be seeing that smile in her nightmares for several months to come.

"_Father Hades,"_ Lucy said, standing slowly, _"We were just in the middle of a mild discussion. Did you have something you wished to say to our contractors?"_ Sam stood.

"Wait wait, what's this about our being your CONTRACTORS? What does that mean?" she asked, her face bearing a worried look. Lucy turned and nodded.

"_Basically,"_ Lucy said,_"Since you found the weapons that house our pet dragons, you are entitled to our powers as you see fit. You will have to carry us with you everywhere, as your bodies and souls have adapted to our natures already, as they have done with the powers and natures of the three goddesses within your… mechanical speech devices. In time, our natures will saturate your bodies and seep into your minds, enacting a mild change of temperament. In your case, Lady Samantha, you possess the powers of the Goddess Setsuka and Sister Belle. In time, the two powers will converge and combine in your mind and soul, slightly changing your appearance and attitude. As I understand, your more angelic nature will make you highly dignified and poised, and give you stability of mind. However, as Sister Belle's the Empress of Lust, you'll be stuck with a shorter temper than you normally possess… and may feel an occasional burning within that may set you looking for a man. At that point, it would be best to commune with both sides of your new being and figure out how to regulate the changes. As for Ladies Clover and Alex… well, we'll have to see what happens when it happens."_

Sam thought this over for a moment, and then said, "So basically speaking, in time, I'll become a highly refined, yet insanely boy-crazy person with a slight temper? How does that even work? That's a contradiction!" Sade stepped forward.

"_It seems that way, but it will make sense in time. Trust us, things will work themselves out in the end,"_ Sade said, Shaking her head a little, causing her ample red hair to spill about her face and body until she was covered in a thin red veil of hair. She reached up and pulled a strand away from her right eye.

"_Sometimes I REALLY hate my hair…"_ she mused. She stood still as Clover walked up behind her and took the majority of Sade's hair and tied it in the back, forming one long ponytail. Sade shook her head again, and then smiled broadly.

"_I don't need any more convincing. I've been struggling with that issue for several millennia now… I'll give you any amount of power you request, Lady Clover. My power is yours,"_ Sade said, walking over to stand next to Clover. Sam nodded. She silently planned how to bring Belle under control. Alex took a look at Lucy and noticed the demoness' shoulders becoming tenser as the seconds ticked by.

"Lucy, when was the last time you had any time to yourself?" Alex asked slowly, gaining a smile a bit as Lucy shrank in place, gaining a bit of a blush.

"_Actually…"_ Lucy said, her voice becoming no more than a squeak,_ "I haven't had any time to relax in about half a millennium. It's been busy down here… more and more people walking the wrong path and winding up here, while more and more people try to escape. I believe the last one who tried to escape was some goon about five-hundred or so years ago who wanted to rescue a woman I'd taken down here on a bet… I disguised myself In Father's old armor and tried to lead this crazed, scythe-wielding Crusader* through the nine circles on a wild goose chase. I kept making things up as I went and… eventually it got to the point where he kicked me to the curb and took off into Purgatory so he could follow the woman into Heaven… I don't know how it turned out. Did you ever catch him, Father?"_

Hades' bony face contorted into a twisted smile as he floated to one wall and pulled on a torch. The wall nearby spun around, revealing a tall man in old, castle-age armor hanging by his ankles with a gash in the shape of a scythe cut into his chest that was bleeding, seemingly without end. Regardless of this infinite blood-loss, the man's eyes were alert and focused, now resting on the figure of Lucy.

"I… I attacked and beat a WOMAN into submission? I deserve all of this…" The man said as the wall spun around and slammed shut again, leaving the man to bleed in utter darkness.

"_**As you can plainly see," **_Hades said,_** "I tracked him down and captured him near the top level of Purgatory. He was two seconds away from the end when I caught up with him. Had to drag him all the way back down just like that over-muscled, pale-skinned demigod with the chain blades did with King Midas and the river of lava. I THOROUGHLY enjoyed that spectacle, about as much as I enjoyed hearing bone smash against stone EVERY SINGLE STEP OF THE WAY DOWN! Ah… his screams were music to my ears. Now he can stay right there for eternity and BLEED his tears for what he did to my precious Lucy. NO ONE gets away with harming my daughter that way."**_ The girls took a single, obvious step back from the God of the Underworld. Hades noticed this and only shook his head.

"_**Perhaps I should rephrase that…"**_ Hades said, _**"You three are the contractors of my daughters. You are allowed to treat them however you like. Anyone who ISN'T their contractor will NOT be spared my wrath for harming them."**_ Sam nodded before adopting a more formal way of speaking. Now, she was taking NO chances.

"You shouldn't worry about that, Lord Hades," she said, as calmly as she could, "The worst I'll ever do the Belle is… bop her on the head when she acts out of line. I won't go any farther." Hades nodded, His face twisting into a happy-looking smile again. Sam winced.

"_**I vastly appreciate your choice, and … Oh, wait a moment, I forgot. Human bones don't move like mine do… One second,"**_ Hades said. The girls turned moments later, retching as Hades' face began to rapidly generate muscle tissue and flesh. When they turned around, Sam knew that Clover was already long gone; Hades' now-human face was long, with a seemingly permanent smile plastered on it. Blue eyes and shaved black hair finished the look.

"_**There, that should be more to your liking. Oh, and Miss Sam, I have one little piece of advice for you… In regards to my daughter Belle…"**_ Hades said, leaning in close to whisper in Sam's ear. Sam's face took on a deep shade of red as her entire head and the upper part of her neck flushed.

"WHAT?" she cried indignantly, "What do you mean, SUBJUGATE? I don't think I could ever DO that to ANYONE, let ALONE a demon woman!" Sam looked at her friends. Clover leaned into her ear.

'Sammy, think about it this way; if her powers change you the way they're supposed to, what better way to test them out than… making sure she's well taken care of, even though I know you're not into that stuff,' she whispered in her friend's ear.

"SO NOT helping…" Sam said, her shoulders slumping. Sighing loudly, she thought about it. What if, just the once, she acted the part, JUST to get Belle's help, then continually find guys to set her up with after? That would get exhausting and hard after a while… and it could lead to some really bad outcomes.

Sam's eyes caught motion and, turning, she saw Belle waking up. She had to make a decision fast, and she knew she was going t kick herself HARD for it later, no matter WHAT decision she made.

"_Huh… What? Where am… DAMN YOU, SISTERS! YOU WILL ROAST ALIVE FOR THIS, ALL FIVE O-W-what are you doing?"_ Belle asked as Sam sauntered up, and then lightly ran the back of a hand down Belle's face and rested the other on her stomach.

"Why Belle, didn't you know? As your contractor, I'm given information on you. I know everything about you… For instance, that you really like to be touched HERE," she said, sliding the hand on Belle's stomach toward her groin and applying pressure on a spot JUST below the waist. Belle tried to protest this treatment, but soon, after a bit more pressure on the same spot, her limbs went limp. This human girl, who knew nothing about her, had hit her special spot… without ever removing her clothes!

"And let's not forget that spot above your ear," Sam said, reaching up on her tiptoes to nibble Belle's right ear before letting her tongue touch the flesh just beyond the top of Belle's ear. Belle's eyes rolled up in her head and she moaned loudly. Alex was almost a bit scared of Sam now. She didn't want to know if one of her two best friends in the whole world had knowledge like THAT of HER!

Belle was about to lose it when Sam undid the shackles that held her to the wall and said, "You know what? There are loads of other things I could do… If you tell me you'll let me have your powers. Do that for me, and I'll show you MANY ways of reaching climax." Belle got on her hands and knees.

"_SHOW ME! I WILL LET YOU USE MY POWERS WHENEVER YOU WANT! JUST SHOW ME!" _The demoness shouted, bowing low. She didn't ever want to do this, but NO ONE, EVER, got her that close and left her hanging. Any and every male she'd ever had that had tried to do that had been DESTROYED!

"Good choice. Now, I'll show you everything I know AS SOON as Rufus Shin-Ra is defeated and pulled down here for your sister Sade," Sam said. Belle looked outraged, but Sam had already claimed her powers. There was nothing she could do.

"_Very well then, so be it Lady Sam. Let's get this done fast!"_ Belle said, jumping to her feet in enthusiasm. Sam smiled. They were just waiting on Alex. A spark came into Alex's eyes.

"Say, Lucy, would you like to go shopping with Sam, Clover and me when this is all over? WAIT! Better idea, we'll make a day of it. We go shopping, and then we drop everything off at our house, and then go for a spa trip! You really need it!" Alex suggested.

"_REALLY, YOU'D REALLY LET ME GO WITH YOU?"_ Lucy gushed. Alex smiled and nodded.

"_You've got me! I'M IN TO THE END!"_ Lucy shouted, latching onto Alex's arm. Alex smiled.

Hades smiled and produced pieces of paper with what the girls needed, saying, "As soon as you touch these, you will automatically learn the summoning calls, and will be able to remember them no matter what. Use them well, ladies!"

Sam stepped up to Belle after receiving hers and said, "Now that I think of it, I could always give you a down payment for good service… and then a bonus later if you do your job well enough." Belle smiled wide as Sam dragged her, by the hand, over to an out-cropping hidden by a wide-cornered wall. A lot of muttering and moaning could be heard from the area, but not ONE of the people remaining moved to see what was happening. A few minutes later, Sam and Belle emerged from the outcropping, Sam nodding happily to herself while Belle staggered along behind her, looking quite satisfied. In fact, as far as Hades was concerned, if the trails going down his daughter's legs, combined with the glazed look in her eyes and the unruly condition of her normally straight hair were any indication, Sam had done a more than excellent job of placating his rowdiest daughter.

"_**Alright, it's time for you three to go back. You haven't much time left before Rufus manages to break into the elevator,"**_ Hades said, holding out a hand. The girls found bid farewell to their new demoness friends just as their bodies were encased in darkness and sent away.

_**~BACK WITH CLOUD~**_

Cloud sat silently, waiting for the girls to rise. When a sharp scraping noise, like nails on a chalkboard, filled the air from the direction of the door, Cloud realized he had no time remaining. He raised a hand and cast a powerful ice spell at the doors to seal them shut.

Suddenly he felt a powerful energy spike and moved. He was right to do so, because soon, a blast of energy tore through his ice spell, allowing the girls to exit. Cloud watched as the three girls he'd just tried to protect slowly walked out, heads bowed with their weapons in one hand and their X-Powders in the other. Rufus' body soon appeared, his face bent into a sneer. Cloud looked at what had previously been Rufus Shin-Ra.

Where his limbs had once been human, they were now no more than metal-covered bones with a little muscle on them, while his torso looked almost entirely robotic, save for the multiple, beating hearts that pushed out through the metal in places*. His head was now half-human and half machine, so the sneer he gave the girls was… creepy, to say the least. The girls, however, seemed entirely unfazed.

"You're not afraid of me?" Rufus said, almost uninterested. Sam shook her head.

"No, actually, we're not afraid of you at all. As a matter of fact, we have more than enough strength between us three to make sure you never see hide or hair of this place EVER again. Are you ready girls?" Clover and Alex nodded. Sam turned to Cloud while Alex and Clover held their tools close to their hearts and started chanting.

"Cloud, I'm going to need to ask you to hold him back for a bit. Once we have our barriers up, you can stop, alright?" she asked with a smile as she turned to follow Alex and Clover in chanting. Cloud realized he had no choice. Taking hold of the Fusion Swords, he jumped over the girls and held his blade ready for combat. Rufus laughed derisively.

"You expect to defeat ME, Strife?" He asked. Cloud shook his head.

"Actually, no; I rather expect I'll lose. But I have to do whatever I can for these three, so… HERE WE GO!" he said, shouting the last three words as he rushed in.

The next few minutes were interspersed with the sounds of three chanting voices mixed with the repeated sound of metal hitting metal, as well as groans of pain as Cloud took injury after injury. As Cloud slid back in front of the girls, sporting a rather large wound across his chest, he noticed the air getting lighter in color around him… _'Wait; air doesn't have a color_' he thought… Upon closer inspection, everything else was a lighter shade in color than it had been before.

It was then that he heard all three girls say aloud, "IN THE NAME OF THE GODDESS OF (**FIRE**), (ICE), and (_LIGHTNING_)! LET THIS EVIL BE DESTROYED!" He smiled and sat down; the girls had their protective barriers up and were now robed in angelic armor. Each had nearly the same suit on, save for several differences.

Sam's armor was white with blue trim and a floral pattern on the shin-length battle skirt, while Alex's carried slightly more golden-yellow trim and lightning-bolt patterns on the sleeves. Clover was covered in a white-with red battle suit, with frills in EVERY imaginable place, with a flame pattern along the sleeve cuffs and the bottom of her shin-length skirt. Each had a small tiara on their head, adorned with the signature of their guardian element: Sam's had a large snowflake, Alex's had two crossed lightning bolts, and Clover's bore a large flame. Seconds later, black and red tendrils flowed up through the ground, wrapping up their legs and torsos to rest just over their noses, solidifying as one-piece battle suits beneath the armor.

Sam looked to Alex and Clover, nodding as she took off in a charge, her bladed shield shattering mid-charge and reforming into a broadsword with a large, bladed shield over the guard on one side. With one fluid motion, Sam readied her weapon, and then vanished into thin air, leaving no trace of her being behind.

Alex was the next to move, her blade gaining a slight bit of girth and LOTS of length, easily matching Sephiroth's own. However, the blade was oddly formed; it was curved in a series of semi-circles, each in the reverse direction of the one before it, and zigzagged like lightning the whole way through, with small hooks on the tip, also jagged like lightning. With barely a step forward, Alex vanished from sight.

Clover was the last to move, her gloves reforming into large, fist-covering curved plates shaped like inverted hearts, with the points of the hearts stopping midway on her forearms. The rounder parts looked pointy as well, colored black with gold trim, with a red plate on top for extra protection and damage potential. Out from the pointed front portions came two large, demonic horns, curled like goat horns. A large, inverted heart with curled edges appeared within the red plate, flashed pitch black. And with that, Clover was gone.

Rufus looked around the room, turning himself invisible to protect himself. He soon realized he may have bitten off more than he could chew.

A metal-coated fist rammed into his cybernetic ribs, cracking three. A gasp of shock turned into a scream of pain as what seemed like three-hundred more rammed into his body, shattering bones and rupturing some of the few internal organs the man had left… if he could still be called a man. The last punch sent him screaming into the air, only to be met with a wickedly-curved sword aimed right for his head.

In seconds, what skin Rufus still had was coated in deep cuts and gashes, while his body twitched with electrical overload. Each of swing of the blade carried the punch of an entire lightning bolt and connected with the sound of a thundering roar… not to mention the force of a fleet of airships with afterburners roaring. The final slash sent him down to the ground, where he bounced thrice and rolled, barely getting onto his feet when the next set of attacks hit.

His body suddenly felt much colder. Looking down, Rufus realized his body had been frozen to the floor. As such, he was forced to endure repeated slashes and being flash frozen repeatedly as Sam took to the sky for her attacks, a set of angel wings sprouting from her shoulders. After the tenth attack, Sam unleashed a massive ice spear that impaled Rufus, flash-freezing him once again and pinning to the ground. Sam, Clover, and Alex settled back in front of Cloud and began their summoning ritual.

Holding her blade skyward with both hands, she lowered it to rest before her face, sharp side facing her as she chanted, "Frozen beyond the beyond of hell, O great sleeping beast of ice, betray your eternal slumber and rise to seal this wicked soul in permanent frost! TENDORYU, DRAGON OF BEELZEBUB, DEVIL QUEEN OF ICE AND LUST, RISE AND DEVOUR YOUR PREY!"

Alex held her blade sideways, allowing it to float in place as her hands extended to her sides, and then said, _"Chained with lightning in the deep abyss, O great beast of the sky and the earth, awaken from your sleep and come to my aide! Seal my foe in your electric grip for eternity! SAKORYU, DRAGON OF LUCIFER, DEVIL QUEEN OF ELECTRICITY, EARTH, WIND, AND SUFFERNG, RISE AND DEVOUR OUR FOE!"_

Clover held her gloved hands together in prayer, saying, **"Burned to the walls of the everlasting darkness, O great monster of flames eternal, stir from your deep rest and torch this evil to the pits of hell! Cast his soul into eternal pain and destruction! KOMARYU, DRAGON OF SATAN, DEMON QUEEN OF FIRE AND EVIL, RISE AND DEVOUR ALL WHO OPPOSE!" **

As the three dragons tore from the ground, the girls took a step forward. Sam placed a hand out, palm flat and facing a space above Rufus. Alex and Clover followed suit, placing their hands on top of Sam's.

"_**DRAGONS OF THE DEVIL QUEENS, MERGE AND ASSUME YOUR TRUE FORM! TAKE THIS WICKED SOUL TO THE NETHER DIMENSION FOR ALL ETERNITY! BAHAMUT HELL, FORM!"**_ All three shouted. The three dragons roared as the room around them seemed to shatter outward, revealing a black expanse. Rufus, feeling tingling in his arms, realized the ice had melted and tried to get up to attack the girls before they could complete their summoning. Unfortunately, he was far too late.

The three dragons fused, melding and twisting together until the beast they were summoned to make formed. With eight, massive pillar-like legs connected by hellfire in the joints, a wind-wrapped heart in a body formed of ice coated in hellfire and brimstone, and three heads that resembled the pits of hell themselves, Rufus realized his time was now. He had to do something, ANYTHING, to finish these girls off, or …

"_**BAHAMUT HELL, TAKE HIM AWAY!"**_ The girls shouted. The massive hell dragon opened its three maws, each revealing a set of super-sharp teeth made of molten rock, large globs of acid dripping from each and every tooth. The left head's neck seemed to twist, and suddenly extended, shooting the head forward at an inhuman speed. A second later, with his body in the monster's mouth, Rufus took out a bomb and dropped it in, bracing for impact.

He screamed in agony a second later as the explosion mixed with the hellfire in the beast's belly and shot up from its mouth to torch him directly. He was tossed to the right-side head which tore through his body and hit him with powerful electricity before tossing him to the center mouth. Rufus could see a blue aura coming up the beasts' throat and tried a fire spell.

The spell collided with the highest-grade ice magic possible, which flash froze him on a cellular scale. The frozen body fell into the beasts' maw and vanished forever. The massive dragon nodded in completion of its work and split into the original three, who then vanished along with the girls' armor, revealing the forms of the three demon sisters and the three goddesses.

"_That was incredible work, controlling our dragons so well!"_ Belle said, throwing herself at Sam. Sam smiled. The dark space vanished moments after, revealing the top floor of the building.

~SEVERAL DAYS LATER~

The girls sat at a table in North Corel, sitting across from their respective powers.

"So, you have no choice but to stay with us wherever we go, huh?" Clover asked. Sade nodded, while Houka simply chuckled.

"**That is certainly the case. Mother Minerva has granted us the ability to change our form in your world, so the only people to ever see us in our god-like state will be the three of you and the three Demon Queens,"** Houka said. Sade nodded.

Sam chuckled and, with a lingering glance at Belle, said, "Well… in that case, we should be able to resolve a couple problems in our world quite easily with you present, huh?" Belle felt weak in the knees for a moment.

"_Oh? Got a few nasty people on a kill list, or something?"_ the demoness asked. Sam shot Clover and Alex a look. They got the message.

"Yeah… We have one in particular, but not to kill or anything. More along the lines of… CONVINCE TO NEVER BOTHER US AGAIN." Belle understood.

Moments later, Cloud and the others walked over in time for a wormhole to open several feet from the table. The girls got up with their allies and said goodbye, then stepped through the wormhole.

Once back, they immediately avoided Jerry and headed for home. After a good rest, they'd be more willing to explain their mission success with him. Right now, there were certain things that needed dealing with.

The next morning, Sam woke up, but something felt odd. For the first time in a while, her body felt heavy. She got up and went to take a shower, but stopped short of the bathroom as she caught her reflection in the mirror. Her lower jaw SLAMMED into the floor at the sight of her appearance.

She'd always been used to seeing her red hair fall to her mid-back, but seeing it stopping just short of her shoulders, now a light, frosty blue with red streaks and tips… she felt like she'd swapped bodies with someone else. She took a closer look at herself and gasped.

She'd always been a looker, but now… that wasn't an apt description. The more appropriate term was "Man Killer". If her old appearance had been a setting on a dial, she would have ranked herself a seven, maybe an eight at best. The way she looked now, with her breasts almost falling out of her loose nightgown while the lower half clung to her now full hips and toned butt for dear life, it was like everything about her had been pushed to ten on the dial, then cranked around to the "five" position after the dial broke. A quick spin later, and she knew, first thing first, was that she'd need a new wardrobe.

Seconds later, two loud screams ripped through the pent house, sending Sam tearing down the hallway to the source. Upon arrival in the hall that led to Alex and Clover's rooms, she stopped dead in her tracks. Her best friends were now "Man Killers" along with her. Clover had always been the better looking of the three, while Alex filled in the "athletic" body type almost perfectly, leaving Sam to be the "Hot Bookworm". Now, with all three girls looking like girls out of hardcore porn, there was NO WAY the boys OR girls at school would EVER look at them the same way again.

The most distinguishing changes that had Sam second-guessing her hunch were their hair: Alex's normally black hair was now a light brown with white streaks and tips while her eyes , while Clover's normally short blonde hair was shot just past her shoulder-blades, colored fire-red with blonde streaks and tips. Sam also noticed a change in their eyes: Alex's brown eyes now had a white ring around her pupils, while Sam's blue had a visible red ring around hers.

"Sammy, what happened to you?" Clover asked, her face gaining a shocked look.

"The same thing that happened to both of you, it looks like," Sam said, taking the opportunity to spin around once more to show her friends her "Changes".

"I vote shopping trip," Alex said, wincing a bit. Her friends shared that wince; they knew it would be nearly impossible to find ANYTHING in their new sizes…

~THE END~

FINALLY, we've reached the end of this story. I'm sorry to have been so lax with this… I hope this makes up for it. ^_^ R&R, CONSTRUCTIVE FLAMES ARE WELCOME.

*Anyone want to take a guess where I got THIS idea?


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